Mass Effect: Descent
by Jason de L'Epee
Summary: It has been five years since the Harvest War, when the Reapers almost harvested all sentient life. The Reapers were not destroyed, but tamed, under the watchful eye of a force known only as the Guardian. Meanwhile, Spectre Alenko is sent on a mission to investigate the geth as a new threat descends on the nervous civilizations of the galaxy. (Control Ending)
1. Prologue

**MASS EFFECT: DESCENT  
** by Jason de L'Epée **  
**

 **FOREWARD:** Thanks to artists like Andrew Ryan, and authors on this site like kunari801 and The Lost Girl 21, I finally decided to give _Mass Effect_ a try. There were a lot of pieces that use the Destroy Ending, which does leave a vital part open, but I've seen very few pieces that take place after the Control ending. I always wondered that, mainly because I find that one to be the most interesting story-wise, mainly because it leaves the galaxy in a state of uncertainty. The possibilities are ENDLESS! Granted, I do understand that a certain hero is not "with us" after that ending, but so what? I think this is an ending that needs to be explored. Thankfully, I've come up with one of my own. Inspired by _Mass Effect_ and _Halo_ , I bring to you, _Descent_.

Unlike my X-Men fanfics, this one will not be episodic in its chapter structure. It will be one big story, not a series of mini-stories.

Passages taken from the New American Standard Bible are copyrighted © 1971 to the Lockman Foundation. Used without permission.

 **PROLOGUE:**

* * *

He had no idea what kept him going; for the entire world to see, he was death walking. With one hand gripping what felt like a hole in his side, all that remained of Commander Shepard limped on what felt like an endless stretch of ground towards his goal: two power conduits blazing with energy. Each step hurt as badly as the last, forcing him to gasp and moan as each footfall hit the floor. On one hand, he could say he was lucky for surviving a blast like he received from the oldest Reaper of them all, Harbinger; on the other hand, he felt like death.

As he carefully put one step ahead of the other, he tried not to snort at the irony of his choice. Ever since the war began, he championed the complete eradication of their foes: the seemingly invincible Reapers. Shepard was true to his creed, ushering the events that destroyed four Reapers. However, the Reapers weren't his only fight: a human-supremist faction calling itself Cerberus had stood against him, and its Illusive Man championed the concept that the Reapers could be controlled rather than destroyed. Bravely, the commander stood against both the Reapers and Cerberus, even to the very last battle on Earth…until he learned the truth he had refused to consider: The Reapers _can_ be controlled.

It was not the Illusive Man who convinced him, nor was he really convinced of it; it was an intelligence within the Citadel itself that stated that it was possible. Calling itself the Catalyst, synonymous to the missing piece of the grand puzzle of the Crucible now looming above his head, it had presented three choices to the wounded Commander. At first, the Commander pleaded with the Catalyst to turn the Reapers aside, but the Catalyst had refused, spouting that the Reapers were necessary. No matter how or from whence did Shepard confront the Intelligence, it continued to hold its ground in its own neutral but smug logic. In the end, however, it finally stated that a new solution was needed and inevitable.

After the Crucible had been docked, the Intelligence had stated that its outlook and views had altered to be aware of new possibilities, but it was very clear in stating that he could not choose any solution itself. Any choice required intervention, human intervention… _his_ intervention. One choice was obvious: to destroy the Reapers, but at a cost: the Crucible would not discriminate and would in turn wipe out all synthetic life all together, including one of humanity's newest allies, the geth, and even…

All this time he had championed for destroying the Reapers, but when faced with the golden opportunity to wipe them out with one single blow with that knowledge, he choked. The Intelligence had also hinted that he himself might die purely because of the presence of his synthetic implants that literally held him together for the past year. Every fiber in his being wanted to punish the Reapers for what they did and not just in this cycle, but his gut wrenched at the thought of slaughtering the geth and one other that he watched grow in the confines of the Normandy. The Enhanced Defense Intelligence, otherwise known as EDI, had grown from a virtual intelligence into a fully self-aware artificial intelligence that gained the trust and care of the Normandy's crew, and more so the trust of Commander Shepard. During the war with the Reapers, she began asking questions on the purpose of synthetic life, the meaning of sacrifice and love, and many other questions that wouldn't normally be relevant to an AI; however, EDI was anything but normal. She was crew, and Shepard wouldn't throw away the life of any crewmember, synthetic or no.

As he warred with what he might have to do, another choice was presented to him: controlling the Reapers. That surprised Shepard so much that his mind had frozen momentarily, and when he finally came out of it, the first words he said were "So, the Illusive Man was right after all…" He learned that the Illusive Man had even tried, but having already been exposed to Reaper indoctrination, he could not control what already controlled him. Shepard, however, could. In return, his corporeal form would disintegrate but his mind and essence would live on as something else, and in complete, uncontested control of the Reapers.

Shepard barely had time to consider this before the final solution was given: complete synthesis of organic and synthetic essences of every single living being in the galaxy to create a new form of unified life throughout the galaxy. He barely even considered this one as some feeling deep within himself stated that forcing evolution to evolve in one way was no better than what the Intelligence was doing with harvesting civilizations, no matter how ideal the Intelligence made it sound.

So here he was, limping and bleeding towards two power conduits. He wasn't far from the conduits as his mind began digesting what he was about to do: by grasping the power of the Reapers, he would become the governing mind of the Reapers, controlling them completely. He would die, but he would live on as a synthetic mind, something much higher than any artificial intelligence has ever reached, or even dreamed of reaching. Not even the Intelligence watching his every move behind him could reach this zenith of synthetic existence. But there was a price: he would become disconnected with those who have helped him so far in this mortal life. Three years of friendships would evaporate when he laid his hands on the conduits. Each step brought images to his mind those whom he was leaving behind, and then those who went on ahead. He remembered Mordin, giving his life so the krogan had a future; Legion, sacrificing his own state of existence so that all geth could become alive; and then his mentor, Admiral Anderson, who was with him till the very end.

The conduits were now in reach, the blue glow marking every torn piece of him in unnatural colors. His mind flashed again, focusing on his pilot, Joker, tipping his hat glibly. Many more of his comrades flashed through his eyes as he reached for the first conduit: Garrus, Tali, Liara, James, Steven…so many people he wished he could thank one last time for everything they did.

His hand grasped the first conduit. Wincing, he felt the power of the Reapers pour through him, but stagnating. The connection needed to be complete. Looking at the other conduit, he grabbed it. At once, it felt like every fiber in his being was being torn asunder down to his very spirit. The pain became too much, and he fell to his knees, breathing. So much of him felt wrong; his body was dying, he could feel it. Lifting his head stiffly to face his fate, his mind brought up one last image: a man with a gentle smile, his hair gathering at the top of his head with chestnut-brown eyes, a man he had the pleasure of knowing more than any other…

Shepard was glad his face had not yet turned, so he could shed the last tears he could ever shed as he remembered his last words to him. _"No matter what happens, know that I love you…always."_ Standing up, he grabbed the conduits like the horns of a bull in one last attempt. The power rushed through him again, changing him, destroying him.

In the last instances, he wheezed, "Kaidan…I love you…" Finally, his corporeal form went dark, and faded away into dust.

At the same time, the Intelligence watched neutrally on as his own existence was wiped away to make room for a new Intelligence, but in his own last moments, he felt something like joy: he was now absolved of his responsibilities. He could finally stop.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Earth Orbit_

The battle raged on outside the Citadel as the united fleets gave all their worth against the gargantuan Reapers fighting to protect the Citadel, yet they had already failed. The Crucible had docked, and after several silent but tense minutes, the Crucible began priming. As soon as a flash of blue began growing alarmingly fast, a lone ship began racing for it while avoiding the Citadel's deadly guardians.

" _All ships, take heed! The Crucible is primed! Move to retreat! I repeat: move to retreat! Disengage and move to the rendezvous point!"_

The pilot of the ship seemed to ignore the orders to retreat, despite the fact they came directly from the fleet admiral. He felt a hand rest against his shoulder, and he shrugged it off, determined to not be deterred. His commanding officer was at ground zero of the docked Crucible, and he'd be damned if he didn't rescue him before it destroyed the Reapers.

The hand fell on his shoulder again, but before he could shrug it off again, he heard a voice, pleasant but altered by a synthetic voice box, plead with him. "Jeff, we must leave the system!"

He knew that voice very well, but he didn't move to acknowledge it as his heart and mind warred. His mind declared that the voice, coming from the only woman he felt he ever loved was right, but his heart was pleading with him to rescue the man to whom he owed his life. After all, his commanding officer died once to make sure he lived.

"No!" came the voice of the Major, the Commander's second-in-command. "We got to go back! We have to go back!"

Joker froze as his hand reached for the controls to turn about.

"Major…" came a soft voice. It was Liara.

Kaidan spun to face the asari. "We can't! We need to get Shepard!"

"Kaidan…" Liara continued. "We need to go…"

"No!" Kaidan protested. "We need to—"

At that moment, an explosion of blue erupted from the base of the Crucible. The Crucible had discharged. Silence reigned on the bridge as the glow brightened.

Joker cringed as he saw that he was too late to save his commanding officer from what looked like certain death. He was too slow; the best pilot of the Alliance if not the entire galaxy failed to rescue his own commanding officer. Shutting his eyes and lips tight, he knew that now was not the time to grieve. Cursing softly, he breezed his hands over the holographic interface, commanding his ship to retreat. "Adjusting trajectory."

"No…no…" Kaidan said weakly.

Liara laid a hand on Kaidan's shoulder, and at once Kaidan turns around and embraced Liara, and began sobbing into her shoulder. For the briefest of seconds, Liara was shocked at the Major's display of emotion, but she knew; everyone on this ship knew.

EDI had a despondent look on her synthetic face as she turned to Joker. "Jeff, we need to leave now."

Joker could see the blast widening at an alarming rate, and the readouts on the computers were blaring warnings. Slowly, he nodded, swiping a hand across the holographic interface. "Preparing new coordinates. Prepare for FTL jump."

As the Citadel, the Crucible and Earth disappeared from view as the ship turned, EDI felt her cognizance processers consume more processing power, but in a form she didn't recognize. She had processed and recorded many unique algorithms that would be described by organics as emotion: happiness, anger, love, determination. This one however was alien to her. She would need to process this unique algorithm later, for her processers were observing that this was an inappropriate time to ask about human emotion comparisons. Even more relevant, the one person whom she had depended on to evaluate her processes through her questions was on the Citadel in the middle on the blast. All she could do now was remember to ask later.

The _SSV Normandy SR-2_ turned about just as the Crucible's blast began widening at an alarming rate. It was almost on top of it before it engaged its FTL drives and flashed away. The blast continued to expand, gaining speed, enveloping Earth and anything left behind as well.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _London Ruins_

The situation was deteriorating fast. Morale had sunk to an all-time low after virtually all of the remaining forces of the Alliance had witnessed the massive Reaper Harbinger touch down near the Citadel conduit beam and systematically disintegrate anything that came close to the beam. For the longest moment, it appeared no one even reached the beam. Any attempt to retry was aborted due to heavy casualties. No one on Earth knew what was going on above orbit. All the ground soldiers knew was that they needed to keep fighting or die, no matter how slim the odds were.

Near the ruins of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben still stood tall over the ongoing devastation as a symbol of tranquility in a warzone, somehow defiantly standing against the Reapers as they systematically wiped out any living thing that moved beneath them. The battle raged on, every Alliance soldier and ally blasting anything that ran towards them or fired at them, even at the very Reapers themselves. Fighters screeched by overhead, trying to draw the fire of the Reapers away from the foot soldiers. It was suicide: the Reapers blasted each one away effortlessly, and refocused back on the ground. Foxholes became graves, rubble became tombstones, battlefields became graveyards; the Reapers were winning.

Then, a blue light grew above the battlefield. Every eye—including the Reapers'—shot their gaze upwards as a flash of azure pervaded the skies like a supernova. Every instinct in each soldier screamed to take cover, and many dived for it. The wave hit them like water, and all felt their insides painfully crackle like a thundercloud. Soldiers gasped for air, some even ripped off their helmets to grab the air that was taken away. For the briefest of seconds every solid shared an identical thought: they would die by an electrifying suffocation. But each began to realize that they could breathe painlessly, and so every tongue tasted the air.

One soldier cried out, and all heeded to him. He pointed towards the Reapers, and all looked. The Reapers stood frozen, unmoving as their shells laced with the blue energy that had just seared past the battle-weary soldiers. Then, one by one, the Reapers ascended into the dark, smoke-impregnated sky. Every soldier watched them go, completely baffled. Why are they leaving? Why did they stop attacking?

Around the world, the story was the same. Every eye in every country looked up to watch the harbingers of their reckoning lift into the sky, disappearing from all sight. They left behind anguish and destruction, but above all, they left behind bewilderment. The servants of the Reapers, husks of their former selves, ceased all fire against the defenders of the Earth and disappeared into the hills. Soldiers and civilians that remained did not give chase, for they were too preoccupied on what just transpired.

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Earth Orbit_

The Reapers gathered around the Citadel as its arms slowly slid back shut. They received new priority objectives: cease all harvest of advanced civilization; gather at the hub of mass relay network, await new orders. There was no questioning of the orders, there was no argument; there was only the command of the Intelligence, and it shall be obeyed.

XXXXXXXXXX

Millions of miles away, Pluto guarded the mass relay that made its home in orbit; an image of tranquility despite the war of reckoning far inside the dwarf planet's orbit. It bore the name _Charon_ , the same as the moon it was believed to be decades ago. For nearly forty years it had been the ferry to the whole galaxy, to new opportunity and even beckoned the relay's true creators.

As it sat, a pulse of electrifying blue energy raced through space like waves against the rocks. It washed over Pluto, briefly giving a blue hue to its thin atmosphere, and then passed over the relay. The element zero core lit up like the sun, flashing blue and white as its energy approached critical. The gyros began spinning faster and faster, trying to control the intense energy building. Suddenly, they stopped, and the mass relay fired one single blast of energy. The gyros snapped apart, hurling into space as the blast of the relay hurled them away.

The blast from the Charon Relay reached its sister near Arcturus, and from there it shot to another one. One by one, the relays lit up from the Crucible's blast; very soon, the entire galaxy would have been covered in the collective blast from the relays.

On Thessia, the asari were holding on to whatever ground they stood on, despite the Reapers pushing them back effortlessly. Cut off from their remaining fleets—having rerouted to Earth and the Citadel to secure the Crucible—the remaining asari forces were hard-pressed to simply survive against the never-ending onslaught of the Reapers. One unit stood hunkered down behind cover, seeing four separate Reapers advancing on their position, their eyes searching the ground for their targets. Nothing in the asari arsenal could even slow these Reapers. All they could do now was to wait.

Suddenly, from behind the Reapers, a blast of what looked like blue lightning washed over the Reapers and everything else. The Reapers stood very still, their hulls lacing with blue lightning; then, one by one, the Reapers lifted into the sky. From their cover, the asari soldiers looked up and at each other in complete bewilderment. Where were they going?

The story was the same on other besieged planets: Palaven, Dekuuna, Tuchanka, Irune; the Reapers mysteriously stopped fighting and simply just left. The valiant fighters that remained were left in a collective state of bewilderment. The Reapers just quit? Was that what the Crucible was supposed to do?

XXXXXXXXXX

Joker didn't know where they were going, and at the moment he didn't care. As the crew behind him scrambled as readouts piled in, Joker was forcing the ship to go as fast and as hard as she could. EDI had moments ago notified him that the Crucible blast was racing behind them, slowly gaining on them. No one on the _Normandy_ knew what could happen if it caught up with them, but no one wanted to find out either.

"Come on, baby," Joker whispered. "You can do it."

Even at FTL speeds, the Crucible's blast was gaining on them. Even now, blue light was growing inside the cockpit. Joker gritted his teeth; he needed to go faster.

" _WARNING! Collision imminent!"_ came EDI's warning from his side.

Joker's eyes shot wide. Bringing up the star charts, he found that they were closing in on a star system…and heading straight for one planet's moon. "Oh, shit!" Joker's fingers flew over the controls, trying to adjust trajectory.

Suddenly, the blast caught them. The ship's systems overloaded, and all the lights went out. Before Joker had the chance to curse again, he heard something slump over in the chair to his right. Looking, he saw EDI slumped over, shorted out. "EDI!" he cried out.

The ship lurched as it dropped out of FTL, their inertia dampeners now offline and now the ship careened towards the moon. Joker saw the moon fill up the windows of the cockpit. His jaw clenched. "Brace for impact!"

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Eternal. Infinite. Immortal. The man I was once used these words…but only now do I fully understand them…and only now do I fully understand the extent of his sacrifice. Through his death, I was created. Through my birth, his thoughts were freed. They guide me now, give me reason, direction…just as he gave direction to those who followed him; the ones who helped him achieve his purpose. Now my purpose: to give the many hope for the future, to ensure that all have a voice in their future._

 _The man I was knew he could only achieve this by becoming something greater. There is power in control; there is wisdom in harnessing the strengths of your enemy. I will rebuild what the many have lost. I will create a future with limitless possibilities. I will protect and sustain. I will act as guardian for the many._

 _And throughout it all, I will never forget. I will remember the ones who sacrificed themselves…so that the many would survive. And I will watch over the ones that live on; those who carry on the memory of the man I once was, the man who gave up his life to become the one who could save the many._


	2. Chapter 1: Memorial

**CHAPTER 1: Memorial**

 _Akuze Memorial Site – 1050 hours Galactic Standard Time (G.S.T.) :: 11.4.2191 Terran Coordinated Universal Dating System (T.C.U.)_

Captain Kaidan Alenko slowly and deliberately fastened the brass cuffs of his military blues, all the while looking at his weathered reflection in the mirror as his reflection looked emptily back at him. He had arrived late last night, attempting to spend as little time on this planet as he could before returning back to the Citadel. This was no ordinary planet; this was Akuze, long a testimony for one of the greatest failures of human colonization and a lifetime event of the Hero of the Citadel: Commander Shepard.

That fact bothered the captain to no end, but not because of the devastation that happened here to a younger Commander Shepard; it was because it was another painful reminder of the Commander himself: his commander for three years, his friend…his love. Today would have been his thirty-seventh birthday. It had been less than five years since the Battle for Earth, and the end of the Harvest War, but the last words Commander Shepard had said to him were still freshly burned into his mind:

" _No matter what happens, know that I love you…always."_

Kaidan closed his eyes as his mind replayed the bloody leveled battlefield that was the last five-hundred feet to the Citadel Beam, guarded by the oldest and possibly the most powerful of the Reapers: Harbinger. Shepard had narrowly evaded a blast from Harbinger, only to look back to see Harbinger obliterate a Mako tank which flipped backwards and nearly crushed Kaidan and Garrus, both of whom were following close behind. Both were caught in the blast as the Mako combusted instantly as it fell on its top, and Shepard backtracked to drag them out. In a seemingly miraculous chain of events, Harbinger seemed less interested in the Normandy as it came down to evacuate Garrus and Kaidan, and instead turned its attention on Shepard as soon as it lifted off.

That was the last time Kaidan saw Shepard alive. In the medical bay, he had keened for any hope for any news for Shepard. The minutes that followed were excruciating. While the Crucible was in transit, Admiral Hackett whispered a few words in near bewilderment: _"My god…he did it."_ That was proof enough. Shepard had made it to the summit, and from there unleashed the energy of the Crucible, and from then on was gone.

After his wounds were treated, he limped to the bridge—ignoring any protest by Dr. Chakwas—to be there in case Shepard called for any evacuation. The call never came, and he could only watch in silence as Admiral Hackett ordered all ships to retreat as the Crucible primed. Joker had the mindset to disregard the orders and fly for the Crucible at the base of the Citadel.

The rest was a bit of a blur to Kaidan: they had spent the better part of a month on an inhabitable moon that orbited a gas giant over a dozen light-years from the home system in the Local Cluster. While the ship was only moderately damaged, there was no good way for the _Normandy_ to lift back off from the ground once the repairs to the main reactor were complete. The _Normandy SR-2_ was designed only for space-docking; a dock on terrain with its mass effect fields could torch the immediate area.

It had been almost five years now, and they had long escaped that moon, thanks to their great shock, a Reaper; two of them in fact. It was surreal; two Reapers picked up the ship using their appendages and lifted the Normandy off the moon. Once it was stable in space, the Reapers disappeared. Soon after that, an Alliance vessel jumped into the system and escorted the _Normandy_ back to the home system. Once there, the Normandy crew learned that the Crucible didn't destroy the Reapers as planned, but had subjugated them under some kind of super intelligence identifying itself only as the Guardian. The Reapers repaired the mass relays—which had apparently have been severely damaged from the Crucible—and also returned the Citadel back to the Widow Cluster in the Serpent Nebula. The Crucible had been left behind in orbit above Earth.

Kaidan opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror again, almost disbelievingly. Ever since then, there had been an uneasy peace throughout the galaxy. The majority of the Reapers apparently were now hovering outside the borders of the galaxy, while a small number of them now went across the galaxy back and forth, almost like they were on patrols. Whoever this Guardian was, it apparently saw itself as a sole authority of protection in the galaxy, armed with the most powerful force in the galaxy that only a few short years ago had threatened to extinguish all advanced life in the galaxy, synthetic and organic. Needless to say, the Council races were quite disturbed by this revelation; they were now under the watchful eye of this Guardian, who at a whim could repeat the hell that was the Harvest War. Five years of uneasy peace reigned since then.

As a Council Spectre, Kaidan was ordered—along with all the other Spectres—to monitor Reaper movements throughout Council Space, and Kaidan obediently monitored Reaper activities. He had been curious himself. Why weren't the Reapers destroyed? Why did they stop? What were they doing now? He hoped that an answer to any of those questions could lead him to the answer to the question he was really asking: where is Shepard?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Turning, he saw a turian standing in the doorway. His face was scarred heavily on the right side of his face, while a simple but brilliant dark blue pattern decked the right side of his face, over his nose and fading into the scars. His black marble eyes seemed just as weary as his face depicted.

Kaidan looked away. "Oh, hi, Garrus." Exhaling sharply, he continued as he looked back at the mirror. "You, uh…kind of startled me there."

Garrus himself exhaled in the same fashion; a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah, I have that effect," he said.

"Did you need something?"

"Just coming in to tell you that the ceremony is starting soon. We saved you a spot towards the front."

"Thanks," Kaidan said simply, but didn't look at Garrus.

Garrus' eyes flickered apprehensively, as his doubled-voice questioned floated to Kaidan. "Are you all right, Kaidan?"

Kaidan perked up. "Yeah, I'm all right. Just, uh…a little tired, got in late last night, didn't sleep very well, you know."

Garrus only kept his gaze. Words weren't necessary.

Kaidan lowered his own gaze. "I…I just have a lot on my mind."

That was enough for Garrus. "I understand, Kaidan. We miss him too."

Kaidan raised a hand to his head, hoping that there wasn't another migraine coming. He'd been having trouble with them lately. "It's not the same, Garrus…"

Garrus raised his tridactyl hand. "I—we know. Shepard was very important to you, and you were the galaxy to him. He may have not said so to us, but we knew. I'm sure, wherever he is, he's looking out for you. You know, before the charge to the Citadel Beam, I got to talk to Shepard one last time. I told him that if the thing turned sideways and we both end up in the afterlife, we would meet at the bar, and that I was buying."

Kaidan sniffed, smiling. That sounded like something Shepard would do all right. Garrus was the closest thing Shepard had to a best friend, outside of his own relationship with Kaidan. "I'm sure he's still waiting for you."

"No, I'm sure he's already bought some and is now just looking down at us, giving us a toast for good luck."

Kaidan looked at Garrus again, his chocolate eyes reflecting the light more than usual. "Yeah, sounds like him." Kaidan rubbed his mouth. "I…I miss him so much. There are just so many questions I have…"

"Kaidan," Garrus said. "We had no idea the Crucible would do what it did. I doubt even Shepard knew what happened when he opened the arms. We might never know."

Kaidan could only nod. "Yeah."

Kaidan's omni-tool lit up. Lifting his left arm, he punched a few keys on it. "Kaidan."

" _Oh, Captain, did Garrus find you all right?"_ came a high, perky voice with a thick accent, every _r_ trilling like a nightingale's call.

Kaidan looked at Garrus, who merely looked back with what Kaidan swore to be a smile. Looking back at his omni-tool, Kaidan said. "Yes, Tali. He just found me a little bit ago."

" _Good. The ceremony starts very soon and the seats are filling up. I don't know how much longer we can hold your seats."_

Kaidan nodded. "All right, we're on the way."

The omni-tool faded from view as Kaidan lowered his arm. "Guess we, uh…should get going."

Garrus nodded. "Yeah, we should."

XXXXXXXXXX

The skies were clear as the pavilion filled with people from many races to pay their respects to the Shepard Memorial and the man whom it memorialized. The memorial was extravagant: walls of black marble with the names of the soldiers, regardless of race, who lost their lives during the Reaper War. The chief part of attention was the Shepard Memorial Flame at the heart of the memorial: a burning bowl, shadowed by an obelisk of black marble with a white marble summit. On the face facing the flame, there was an ovular picture of Commander John Shepard in navy blues. Underneath it was carved the following:

 **COMMANDER JOHN ALAN SHEPARD**

 **(11.4.2154 – 10.11.2186)**

 **N7**

 **SILVER STAR**

 **MEDAL OF HONOR**

 **STAR OF TERRA**

 **NOVA CLUSTER**

 **SILVER DAGGER**

Despite the memorial site's prominence, it stood in the middle of a desert, several clicks from the nearest outpost on the planet. The only other landmarks were mountains in the distance. Vegetation was scarce as well as any form of wildlife. Despite its isolation, the site was infamous; this was the place where a unit of Alliance soldiers perished against a group of thresher maws. Commander Shepard was the only one to survive, although unconfirmed reports suggest that a second had survived but was never found.

That catastrophe was fourteen years ago, and many had heard a synopsis of what had happened on this site that day in 2177. Despite its tragic atmosphere, it was now barely a footnote in Shepard's legacy in light of his greatest accomplishment: conquering the Reapers. While the Citadel Council considered the continued presence of the Reapers as an ongoing investigation, a growing number of citizens in Council Space consider Shepard as the conqueror of the Reapers. Shepard had become something of legend and myth. Some conspiracy theorists have gone on to say that the Citadel Council is in fact very knowledgeable about the Reapers' apparent pacifism, and had in fact known that the Crucible was in fact designed to overthrow the Reapers' minds and turn them into an unstoppable force against whoever questioned the Council. More such theories were similar, although they mainly point to the Alliance as they who control the Reapers now, even going as far as suggesting the Harvest War was a front for them to gain control of Council Space under human rule.

As the theories grew in number, those who had known the Commander the best could only remorsefully bemoan the callus accusations against the Alliance, the Council, and even the Commander, although there was nary a foolish soul who would speak out against the memory of Commander Shepard. Even the newly organized Batarian Parliament had warned its citizens to bide their words regarding Commander Shepard, despite his involvement in the annihilation of the Bahak System. Whether this was a result of the complete dissolution of the hegemony or Shepard's death being satisfaction enough was hard to tell; nevertheless, batarian sentiment towards Shepard was very mixed. Still, it was no surprise that not a single batarian could be seen at the memorial today.

As the pavilion continued to fill, despite the diminishing amount of vacant seats, a woman stood silently in front of the obelisk that contained Shepard's image. Flecking a small black lock of her hair out of her face, she admired the simple but extravagant obelisk. It was fitting for the Commander; he was a man of simple taste, who had often spent his free time building ship models. She had observed this when she served aboard the Normandy during the Collector attacks. When she was an operative for Cerberus, she monitored Shepard's movement, even in the confines of his cabin. She didn't except she could learn so much about the commander by observing him in downtime, not to mention on the battlefield.

"It's been some time, Ms. Lawson."

The woman, Ms. Miranda Lawson, turned to see who has addressed her: a well-aged officer of the Alliance, weathered and scarred by decades of battle, and his snowy hair was just another verse in the canticle. "Not long enough it seems, Admiral," she replied simply.

"Perhaps," replied Admiral Hackett. "I doubt any amount of time can change what we think about those days."

"Only a fool would believe it would."

Hackett could only nod.

"It's strange," Miranda continued. "The last words I said to him were that if we won or came out at all, everything would be different. I was right, but I couldn't predict this."

"None of us could; none of us knew what the Crucible would do when it fired, although it did what it needed to do: end the war. Shepard got it done."

Miranda was all too familiar with the outcome of that final battle on Earth, and had spent the last few years investigating not only the cause of the Reaper subjugation, but the disappearance of Shepard. Her first step was to investigate the Crucible more closely, coupling it with what they knew about the Citadel, more accurately the fact that it regulates the entire mass relay network. However, it was a dead end; the Crucible was defunct and spent. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that when attached to the Crucible, it was little more than a power source. There was neither anything on the Crucible itself, nor in the plans to actually suggest otherwise. The Crucible had been designed to be used in conjunction with the Catalyst, and the Catalyst was inferred to be the thing that allowed the Crucible to fire the dark energy bursts.

Miranda spent the following years combing the Citadel, cooperating with C-Sec, but nothing emerged from all those years of poking around the crevices of the Citadel; all fruitless. Despite years of cold leads, she never gave up. She couldn't, not when a person's life could be on the line. Not when that person was Commander Shepard, whom through his actions and conscience Miranda saw the true evil of Cerberus, and through his help, Miranda was able to save her sister from her father's grimy hands. She owed the Commander a lot, but finding the Commander because she owed him wasn't among her reasons. To be honest, she couldn't help but feel that the list of reasons she compiled was callused in itself. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was doing it because the world still needed him. Was it because the Reapers were still around, silently drifting through galactic space? Or was it simply because she felt that Shepard had known more before he disappeared?

Her mind flashed back to reality as her eyes continue to explore the memorial's stonemasonry. "Yes, he got it done…," she said.

The hollowness of her statement was not lost on the Admiral's part, but he had chosen to say nothing. They could speculate what happened at the base of the Citadel for ages to come, but until something new turned up, all they had was what they already knew. The admiral only turned away to leave. "Ms. Lawson."

"Admiral," she returned politely, but remained. There were just so many questions that needed answering. Most would have called her quest for answers a desperate ambition for closure, but it was that kind of determination that had made her so useful in Cerberus, and in a strange turn against her former employer before the Reapers invaded. Perhaps her quest was just for closure, but on the other hand, it wasn't just for herself either.

Looking away from the memorial itself for a small moment, she could see how quickly the seats had been filled. Most were strangers, or were more just passing acquaintances of the Commander. That being said, she instantly spotted the former comrades-in-arms that Miranda herself either had the pleasure of working with or at least knew they were trustworthy enough to have earned the Commander's trust, and that was enough for her. At the same time, she could even see who was missing from this event, and had been since before the war ended. She had heard that Dr. Mordin Solus, a salarian military scientist high up in the STG, had given up his life to make sure the krogan were finally freed of the ever-controversial genophage. Thane had perished at the blade of Kai Leng, but not without preventing him from taking out Councilor Valern during the Second Battle of the Citadel, even while he was in the final stages of Kepral's Syndrome. Even the geth construct "Legion" that they had found on a derelict Reaper months before the war had disseminated itself in the virtual realm so all geth would become free-thinking synthetic constructs independent of each other.

While she hadn't been there to witness each time it happened, she knew that each loss affected the Commander severely. Despite the fact that he had accepted that casualties happen in war—particularly in one of that magnitude—he couldn't help but grieve for them. That was what made the Commander special: he took the time to create an intimacy between himself and each of his squad-mates. They were his friends, and he never discriminated. Even when it seemingly got to the point he would have to choose sides, he rose to the occasion to temper down both parties. For a warrior, he was quite a talented diplomat.

Just remembering that, Miranda had every reason to continue the hunt for Commander Shepard, or in the very least, discover his fate. If anything, his circle of friends deserved to know. Shepard would have wanted in the very least that.

XXXXXXXXXX

Captain Kaidan Alenko didn't know how he managed to keep his composure throughout the ceremony. For the past five times this ceremony had been held, he had always maintained a complete neutral composure, and he always asked himself how he had and why he hadn't let himself go. The silence itself had been his answer. Great care had always been taken to ensure the quality of each ceremony at this site on this day, and Kaidan had always been thankful. It would be in the very least a great disservice to mess up a memorial service of one of the greatest soldiers in Alliance history.

Come to think of it, he found himself unable to cry since that fateful night. Somehow, any other tragedy that has happened since then has felt paled in comparison. Not even finding out his father had not survived the war had pushed him to as much grief as Shepard's death had. Sometimes he had chided himself for it; other times, he reasoned that Shepard truly was a kind of man that became closer than any friend, sibling or parent. It had only taken them both three years to get to that level…three very short years.

He stood before the obelisk now, aware of the crowd milling behind him, looking at the same thing, but never paid them any more mind than the wind. Most of them were complete strangers to him, and had only addressed them politely. He had no desire to know them better, nor felt it worth trying since it wasn't likely they'd meet again, so why bother? Truth be told, his ability to forge new friendships had been severely impaired after being dealt such a loss as he had suffered. While no one had mentioned it, he could tell that the friendships he had with his old squad-mates five years ago has been in the least strained. Thankfully, they understood, but still made it known that if he needed to talk, they would be there to listen.

"Square root of 906.01 is 30.1…square root of 912.04 is 30.2…"

Kaidan shook out of his stupor enough to hear quickened ramblings of seemingly nonsensical math equations. Looking towards the source, he saw two young men standing only a few feet away. One appeared to be in great distress, while the other—an Alliance soldier—was trying to console him.

"Square root of 918.09 is—"

"30.3," said the young soldier softly and consolingly.

The other man, looked at the soldier, but remained silent.

Curiosity got the better of Kaidan and he spoke up. "Are you two all right?"

The distressed man didn't seem to pay Kaidan any mind. The soldier however nearly jumped when he saw Kaidan, and at one rose up and stiffened into a salute. "C-Captain Alenko, sir!"

"Loud," the other one started to say. "It's getting loud."

Kaidan was half-way to returning the salute when the other spoke about noises. He had to force himself to stay focused to finish the salute. As he did, his eyes scoped out the young soldier: a young lieutenant, couldn't be any older than twenty-three. Kaidan had already noticed his snow-white hair, and his eyes were as grey as a slate. _"Could he be albino?"_ thought Kaidan, but he dismissed that thought. This young man's skin was fair, but not pale. Moreover, his eyebrows seemed to have stayed dark, despite his hair. _"Possibly partial then,"_ reasoned Kaidan mentally. Finally, he said. "At ease…" Kaidan peered at the officer's bars on the man's shoulders. "…Lieutenant."

At once, the young lieutenant relaxed. "Thank you, Captain. Second Lieutenant Paul Daniels, sir. Engineering Corps, SSV Saratoga." He motioned to the man beside him. "And this is David Archer."

Kaidan's eyes mildly flashed in recognition of the name. "Archer?"

Lieutenant Daniels' professional demeanor seemed to falter. "You know that name, sir?"

At once, Kaidan's mind flashed to a conversation he had with Shepard during the Harvest War, regarding a mission to liberate Grissom Academy from Cerberus hands. Kaidan had been still recovering from the attack on Mars while this had happened, but Shepard was generous to give him the details. Kaidan had learned that young David had been rescued from Cerberus Project: Overlord, a project designed to subjugate the geth, under the leadership of Dr. Gavin Archer…David's older brother. Shepard had intervened on Aite, rescuing David from Cerberus' clutches and brought him to Grissom Academy. Kaidan could still remember Shepard's chilling description of David's condition when Shepard first saw him.

" _I couldn't believe he was still alive. He was stripped naked and surrounded by wires and needles, some going through his arms and legs. Pipes were forced down his throat and his eyes were pried open. He couldn't even blink…but he was crying so hard. He kept saying, 'Make it stop,' and 'It all seemed harmless.'"_

Kaidan could even remember himself wondering if he would get nightmares of that. He himself had been through nightmares of others' creation, but he couldn't help but wonder if his particular hell was any worse than David's, or even the reverse. Who's to say which was worse? Forced to perform biotics to the point of a hemorrhage or to be turned into a living motherboard for a computer? Finally, Kaidan answered. "Second-hand, yes." He could tell that the lieutenant wanted to ask more on the circumstances, but had the prudence to keep his curiosity stilled. "Is he ok?" Kaidan asked as he looked at David, who was still muttering mathematical equations.

Lieutenant Daniels looked at David. "It's his way of keeping himself grounded. Poor David here is severely autistic, but he's a mathematical savant, far better than any of the engineers I've worked with. Back when I was in Grissom Academy, David here was pretty helpful in my projects."

Kaidan nodded, asking, "Grissom Academy?" He knew he might regret it, but he was curious. "Were you there when—"

"When Cerberus invaded?" Daniels finished. Before he answered, he looked at the memorial. "Yeah, I was with Octavia, Isaac and David here. Octavia had a barrier up and Isaac was enforcing it. David and I were trying to use our omni-tools to set up a comm-relay to see if we could get in touch with Ms. Sanders, but until Commander Shepard arrived, we weren't successful; too much interference. We owe our lives to the Commander."

"Square root of 906.01 is 30.1…," David started again.

Kaidan looked pityingly at the two. While he himself owed the Commander more than anything he could ever repay, these two were forever impacted by the simple fact that the Commander had saved them from Cerberus, and hadn't seen him again since then. Kaidan had to wonder just how many other people the Commander had impacted in such a way; he then wondered if it was possible to even count that high.

The young lieutenant saluted once more. "It was a pleasure, Captain." Looking back at David, he said, "Come on, David. Let's find a seat. Ms. Sanders should be saving us some with the rest of the Grissom guys."

As the lieutenant walked a still-muttering David away, Kaidan looked sorrowfully back at the memorial. Another reminder of the wonderful man he had fallen in love with. Sometimes, he hated being reminded, but then he remembered that these reminders were just the fruits of Shepard's legacy, and among many reasons why Kaidan was undyingly loyal to him…and loved him with every part of his heart.

"If only you were alive, John. You've touched so many lives here; I bet you would have loved to see us live the lives you gave us." Forcing back fresh tears, he conceded to go find the seat Tali had reserved for him. The service would soon start. He had a feeling that Shepard would have been annoyed at all the "fuss" he was getting; Kaidan thought with a tearful smile, _"Price of being a celebrity…"_

XXXXXXXXXX

 _SSV Normandy SR-2; D1 Commanding Officer's Quarters – 2437 hours Galactic Standard Time (G.S.T.) :: 11.4.2191 Terran Coordinated Universal Dating System (T.C.U.)_

The service was lovely; it always had been. While Kaidan had no doubt that they would never slouch on a memorial service dedicated to Shepard, he still felt impressed how well it's managed, and without too much pomp and circumstance that memorial services often fell victim to. Kaidan sat on the edge of the bed, trying to let his mind rest from everything. Every year he hoped it would get easier, but each memorial the pain came back anew. It was miraculous enough not to break down each time.

It only got worse when the central crew of the Normandy from before and during the Harvest War with the Reapers went their own respective ways for the most part. Tali returned to her people on Rannoch, but that was expected. Garrus initially returned to Palaven to help with rebuilding but had since moved on to other activities. Liara left without a word, although among them a mutual assumption that she left to get a new ship to continue being the Shadow Broker. Lieutenant Vega left for N7 training after enough of Rio de Janeiro was rebuilt, although Staff Lieutenant Cortez remained, the ever faithful Kodiak pilot. There was very little of what made the Normandy special left, as far as crew is concerned. Jeff "Joker" Moreau was still the ship's pilot—as it should always be—and EDI was still the AI of the ship, Dr. Chakwas had stayed on as the ship's medical officer; beyond those three, the Normandy felt very empty without much of its central crew now gone.

Soon after the war, Kaidan had been named the Captain of the vessel. While not a technical promotion, Kaidan had been both saddened and flattered by it. He still felt out of place; the previous Commander had set the bar exceedingly high…and was one in a million. He was also still a member of the Citadel Special Tactics and Reconnaissance group. It had been five years and Kaidan still did not feel right sitting in his old CO's quarters. For some reason, he couldn't get used to the idea that it was now _his_ quarters. He knew full well why, but it didn't shake how awkward he felt. In his heart, this place will always be Shepard's cabin. Kaidan even kept the fish-tank stocked as well as the models Shepard had bought and assembled while with Cerberus and during the war. Some had quietly questioned that holding onto Shepard's belongings like he did was probably not the best way to move along, but Kaidan always defended his behavior by saying that it was what Shepard would have loved had he been alive to say so. Either way, Kaidan made sure not to change much of the cabin during the five years he has been its commanding officer. During the best of times, it made him feel that Shepard never really left.

" _Captain Alenko, if I might have a moment of your time…?"_ came the pleasant voice of EDI over the intercom.

Kaidan snapped out of his thoughts. "What is it?"

" _I have received a priority message from Admiral Hackett. Do you wish for me to relay it to your quarters, or would you prefer to take it in the QEC?"_

"That won't be necessary, EDI." Kaidan stood up. "I need to get up for a while anyway. I'll take it in the QEC."

" _As you wish, Captain."_

Kaidan strode for the doors leading towards the elevator, taking it down to the CIC. Once it arrives, he strode out, seeing Specialist Traynor still bent over the interfaces near the Galaxy Map. Turning to his right, he takes a turn into the War Room Corridor. As the scanners labored to confirm his biometrics, he stood still as Privates Westmoreland and Campbell stood guard. Kaidan will always remember the more humorous circumstances that had brought these two as official members of the Normandy.

Soon enough, Kaidan entered the War Room and into the neighboring chamber of the QEC. Waving a few hands over the holographic interface, he stands in the center as an azure-outlined hologram of Admiral Hackett appears. Kaidan stiffens into a salute. "Admiral Hackett."

" _Captain Alenko, how are you holding up?"_

It was no secret to the old admiral that Kaidan always had a rough time during the memorials, year after year, but Kaidan wasn't going to let his feelings show today. "I'm ready and able, Admiral. EDI says you have orders for me?"

" _More or less. Some of our engineering corps—in addition to some of our top scientists—are showing expressed interest in installing artificial intelligences into more of our ships, given the success of EDI. This has caught the attention of Alliance Brass, as you might imagine."_

Kaidan silently marveled at his own ability to not react to the news as much as one might have. "I would, and if I may speak freely, couldn't that implicate the Alliance? Artificial intelligences are still illegal for the most part, if I'm not mistaken."

" _You aren't, but Councilor Osaba has revealed that the peace between the geth and the quarians have provoked some of the other Councilors to reevaluate the Synthetic Intelligence Statutes of 1896 CE. After the quarians have regained their homeworld and now live in cooperation with the geth, many advocacy groups are using the peace to call upon the reevaluation. As it currently stands, the Statutes are still in effect and unopposed; just talks. The Alliance is pushing for the reversal of the Statutes, but some of the more conservative members of the Council are still digging their heels in. After all, humanity was still fighting wars in Europe while the geth drove the quarians off of their homeworld. But humanity isn't alone in their standing; the quarians and even the volus are making their voices heard. In the end though, there are still too many neutral standings among the Council for anything decisive."_

Kaidan's brow fell. "I'm following you, Admiral, but I'm not sure what this has to do with me."

" _Currently the Normandy is the only ship in existence in all of Council Space to have a successful AI-implantation, and the Council knows it. While they know that EDI's existence is technically a breach of intergalactic law, her role during the Harvest War had them checking themselves. The Brass sees this as an opportunity. By using the Normandy as the mainstay in our political push to influence intergalactic law, we might have a chance to make real progress in virtual and artificial intelligence technology._

" _Go to the Citadel, Captain. When you arrive, we will have some new crew for you. One of them will be our selected software engineer. He will be there to analyze EDI, looking for factors into her successful implantation that we might be able to duplicate."_

The orders struck Kaidan as odd. "Couldn't one of our own engineers here find that information out for you, sir?"

" _Don't misunderstand, Captain. This engineer isn't just there to analyze. He'll be bringing a prototype AI of his own design to help him collect information."_

"He's bringing his own AI?" Kaidan repeated rather incredulously. "How is that even possible? I'm not software technician, but don't artificial intelligences require a sizeable blue box to operate? EDI's alone had to be split into two consoles in the AI Core.

" _I don't know the details, but apparently his AI is portable, and he can take it anywhere he can carry it. You'll have to ask him more about it. Either way, his AI will directly interact with EDI. It's our belief that EDI will be the one who will help us. Any AIs we create will be with her help."_

Kaidan nodded, although something about the entire thing made him uneasy. Just the same, he was a soldier through and through, and if the Alliance needed something done, he would get it done. "Understood, sir."

" _Once you reach the Citadel, dock at Docking Bay D24, and your new personnel will be there waiting for you there. Good luck to you, Captain."_

Kaidan saluted again. "Thank you, Admiral."

" _Hackett out."_

As the hologram disappeared. Kaidan turned to leave. "Joker, mark a course to the Citadel."

" _Just when I was getting used to the quiet, we get to babysit a new set."_ The pilot's response was its usual dripping sarcasm. _"Don't know what is it about you, Captain. Must be your magnetic personality."_

Kaidan couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Well, if that's the case, I guess I can let EDI give you crash courses on parenting. Might help you in the future."

" _Hey!"_ Joker yelped. _"We weren't serious about that!"_

" _He's joking, of course,"_ said EDI.

" _You're not helping, EDI."_

"Break it up, you two." Kaidan changed the subject. "EDI, you up for this assignment?"

" _My processes are optimal, Captain Alenko. I for one am looking forward to meeting and conversing with this prototype. Its own experiences should prove to be interesting."_

" _If you even think of adopting it, EDI,"_ Joker cut in. _"I'll be sure to adopt a dog. Otherwise I'm going to start feeling outnumbered."_

"Right," Kaidan said. "I'll leave you two to it. Tell me when something comes up, EDI."

" _As always, Captain."_

" _Or maybe a cat;"_ Joker continued. _"Smaller messes and they don't drool. Better than a hamster or fish, anyway."_


	3. Chapter 2: Petition

**CHAPTER 2: Petition**

 _1017 hours G.S.T. :: 14.4.2191 T.C.U._

"Have you been getting enough sleep, Kaidan?" Dr. Chakwas prodded, her motherly but commanding voice pronouncing each syllable almost royally.

Kaidan didn't wonder for the first time that the good doctor of the Normandy had some kind of clairvoyance. "About as much as the next guy," he said.

"Well, your tests indicate that your metabolism has undergone sudden, albeit subtle changes, and the frequency in your migraines has increased by 1.2%. Again, subtle, but could be the start of a trend. Have you had any trouble with your biotics as of late?"

"I…really haven't had any opportunities to test them in force, at least lately."

"Hmm," Dr. Chakwas began to think. "The only theory I have is that you've been slowly building stress over the past several weeks. I would suggest that you watch yourself more closely, Captain. That includes getting the sleep you need and eating what you need. Yes, that does include more protein supplements."

Kaidan did his best not to make a face. Proper nutrition was more than a necessity for biotics, even for a Sentinel-class such as himself; biotics getting severely ill from not eating correctly was fairly common. Diets high in protein and carbohydrates were a cornerstone in biotic health, as well as regular strenuous physical activity. While Kaidan had more or less kept very good care of himself, there were times when he let his diet slip, especially if he was dealing with migraines. Being an L2 biotic, neurological disorders were a part of life, to put it mildly. Many suffered crippling conditions, some even developed diseases long thought eliminated. Kaidan once heard of a young L2 who died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Kaidan was "lucky" to only have migraines. Nowadays, neurological complications from biotic implants were very rare, although few biotics came close to the power levels many L2s had achieved. Post-L2 biotic amplification implants often possessed weaker biotic potential, although many L4s appeared to be able to do better.

"I'll try my best, Doc," Kaidan said.

"Good; you can start with this." Dr. Chakwas slid a can of protein milk across the desk towards him.

Kaidan looked at it distastefully. "I suppose a steak is out of the question."

"I'm the wrong person to ask if you want a steak. Drink up, Captain."

Kaidan pursed his lips as he reached for the can. Of all of the nutritional supplements available, protein drinks were among the lowest desirable, even with artificial flavor additives. Kaidan had experimented with different flavor additives in the past, and while there were several that made them taste better, they could never dampen the aftertaste. The consensus was the same: they tasted like ass. This one would be no different.

" _Captain, we're approaching the Arcturus Prime relay,"_ echoed Joker's voice via intercom. _"We'll be arriving at the Citadel shortly after the jump._ "

" _You did order us to notify you once we approached the final jump to the Widow Cluster,"_ added EDI.

Kaidan smiled, the can halting inches from his mouth. "Thank you for the update. I'll be up shortly." Standing up, Kaidan turned to the aging yet feisty doctor. "Thanks for the check-up, doctor."

"Always a pleasure, Captain Alenko. I'll let EDI set up a proper menu for your diet in accordance to our supplies. When ashore, I suggest you try to make up for any deficit. And be sure to drink that drink, Alenko. I'll know if you haven't."

" _And that never fails to both amaze and frighten me, even to this day,"_ Kaidan thought as he left the medical bay, taking the foul-tasting mixture with him.

As he boarded the elevator, his thoughts began to drift. Ever since the orders from Admiral Hackett, he had to wonder what he was to expect. All he really knew was that the Normandy was once again a test pilot for a new technological and political development for galactic civilization. It seemed that this ship from the very beginning was meant for such a purpose. After all, the Normandy SR-1 was built by human and turian engineers both. He had to wonder who exactly this artificial intelligence expert would be. Before the Harvest War, there were many leading scientists in synthetic intelligences within the Alliance, not to mention outside, including Cerberus. He had not heard of other races—aside from the quarians—that had any real authorities of the science. He assumed that the creation of the geth was such a cautionary tale that research of the technology was either very hush-hush or not actively pursued. There had to be some though; virtual intelligences were all but necessary in many fields throughout the galaxy, ranging from simple tour guides to laboratory data overseer. He could see the salarians easily being a race with scientists in the field, although salarians are usually more interested in evolutionary biology rather than synthetic intelligences. He couldn't dismiss it completely though; after all, salarians were notorious for their nearly boundless curiosity. In retrospect, salarians act a lot like humans do; the level of obsessiveness was debatable though.

The elevator reached the CIC before he had a chance to continue mulling over his thoughts. The elevator opened up and the glow of the Galaxy Map was the first thing to greet him. Passing by the Galaxy Map, he made his way towards the bow where Joker and EDI piloted the Normandy. Upon arrival, Joker's acknowledgement to his presence was typically flippant. "Easily impressed, Captain? It's not like we haven't seen our own mass relay jumps five billion times."

" _While I do not associate such visuals as esthetically pleasing or not, I have gathered testimony from many of our own crew members that 'the view' as they have eloquently stated is 'something akin to a vid',"_ EDI said. _"Many have also said that they never tire of seeing it."_

Joker scoffed. "That's because they don't have to see it every single time we jump. Who does here? This guy."

"Easy, Joker," Kaidan said. "But to answer the original question, I always liked the view. I find it a nice change of pace over the static view of the stars. Granted, I find that peaceful, but you know…"

"Well," Joker cracked his fingers. "Get ready for your _delightful_ change of pace, because we're about to jump in 5…"

Kaidan looked out the cockpit windows as the countdown to the relay jump continued. He knew that the mass relays were among the biggest celestial objects in the galaxy, but to "stand" next to one was always breath-taking. The tint in the windows always robbed some of the blue glow of the mass effect core, but the core shown bright as a star, and Kaidan had to be thankful to be able to see it through filtering.

Suddenly, the ship jumped, and Kaidan could see the outside flash blue and what looked like beams of light shot past the window as the jump happened. Kaidan was familiar enough on the mechanics of a mass relay jump to know what was happening. The mass relays created mass-free corridors of space within the time-space continuum that enabled anything of any size to make a jump instantaneously across the galaxy. Back in the twentieth century, the concept of wormhole travel was popular in science fiction, and Kaidan thought bemusedly that it seemed that the mass relays did just that, although the corridors in the continuum were shut just as fast as they opened. Physicists once theorized what would happen if a faulty relay didn't close a corridor completely. Despite the scary predictions, the relays had been in existence for eons; no such incidence has been recorded. However, up until recently, each record was rebooted every fifty-thousand years, so who could know?

Just as fast as the jump happened, the Normandy fell out of the jump on the other side. Despite the sudden deceleration of the vessel, there was only the slightest of lurches. Inertial dampeners kept crew members that were freely unrestrained on the ship to avoid the messy consequences of inertia. Kaidan had to wonder if EDI enhanced the dampeners enough to make the jump even smoother.

The jump now complete, Kaidan peered outside again. Kaidan was familiar with this view: the rose-colored nebulous clouds of the Serpent Nebula. The color was strangely relaxing, and foreboding. As the Normandy banked around, their destination came into view: the Citadel, the seat of galactic civilization and a living testament of both peace and war for eons. The five-armed superstation was still as mysterious now as it was before the Harvest War. On one hand, it was a massive space-station, boasting a populace well over thirteen million. On the other hand, it was a massive mass relay, its sister somewhere in dark space. Kaidan remembered a time when talk of reactivating the relay mechanisms itself was quickly shut down. The fear of the Reapers was still very fresh, and with the Reapers still operating in the dark shadows of the galaxy out of sight but not out of mind, there was nary a soul that dared to tempt fate by being so foolish as to follow the Reapers to their old nesting grounds.

The Reapers had returned the Citadel to the Serpent Nebula after the Crucible had fired and subjugated them. The Reapers disappeared from view very soon after that, although Kaidan's reconnaissance missions had espied them right on the fringes of the ship's tracking systems. The other Spectres had reported similar readings, although the Reapers seemed to retreat as soon as they were spotted. It was an uneasy reversal to five years prior.

As the ship came closer to the Citadel, the ships of the Citadel Fleet slowly emerged into view from the nebulous clouds, the most notable—and certainly the largest—was the asari dreadnought _Destiny Ascension_. Its survival during the Harvest War was a great morale boost to returning refugees, and the Ascension returned to its post of guarding the Citadel helped in establishing normalcy after such a galactic war. Kaidan could see many turian vessels dotting the view and the occasional asari cruiser, all dwarfed by the Ascension. Kaidan was mildly refreshed to see much of the fleet was restored after five years. It showed that galactic security was exceedingly important; although he had to wonder how much time was sacrificed that could have been spent rebuilding the ravaged homeworlds. Earth itself was still likely decades away from completely erasing the scars inflicted upon its surface from hundreds of Reapers. Palaven, Thessia and many other worlds were likely in the same shape. Kaidan thought with grim amusement that the only worlds he knew of that weren't touched—or relatively unscathed—were Rannoch and Tuchanka. The latter was amusing in itself because while the Reapers did make landfall, they didn't get far at all as the krogan didn't fight much on the surface, and it was suicide for invading forces to fight underground where more than krogan were waiting.

Joker's call for permission broke his thoughts. "Citadel Control, this is the SSV Normandy SR-2, requesting permission to dock?"

After a brief delay, a replay came. _"You're cleared to dock, Normandy. Proceed to Docking Bay D24. Do you require shuttle transport?"_

Joker looked at Kaidan. "I hear Purgatory is always great to unwind."

Kaidan made a look. "Not a fan of crowds, and besides, I've got work to do." Turning slightly—as if to address the holographic communications panel—he said, "That won't be necessary, thank you."

" _Understood, Captain. Welcome to the Citadel."_

The Normandy dove towards the core of the Citadel, a ring where five Ward arms met: the Presidium. Traffic was heavy the closer they got to the Presidium Ring; Kaidan recognized many of the ships as being diplomatic ships of many races. This was far from abnormal; the Presidium was where the politics of the Citadel played out; even more since the war. Despite being hijacked by the Reapers, there were minimal casualties on the Citadel. Most of the Reaper attack on the Citadel itself was ambush using mainly keepers. The keepers would take their victims and convert them into husks, eventually letting them loose on the populace. C-Sec got wind, however, and was ready when the initial waves of the husks came forth. Commander Bailey was able to throw together a force to hold off Reaper forces, trying to save as many as they could. Thanks to their efforts, much of the Citadel's political structure and most of the civilians had been relocated. Just the same, the Reaper forces continued to push; many sacrifices were made…including Commander Bailey's.

Kaidan did not know the Commander long, but in the time that he did, he felt a soul much like Shepard's: one striving to do the right thing, but chafing under red tape and political scrutiny; results over procedure. It was a dangerous line, and several years ago, Kaidan would have been hesitant about such an approach years before—given his previous experiences in BaAT—and had even cautioned Shepard about cutting corners in procedure back during the investigation on Ex-Spectre Saren. The years that followed, Kaidan soon saw the necessity of skirting the lines, especially when the security of the entire galaxy is on the line. While he still prided himself in keeping procedure, he had to admit, having Spectre access was liberating.

The Normandy banked as the targeted bay came into sight, and as they came closer, the vessel bridge rose up to meet them. The ship slowed as the anchor bays rose up to lock the ship into place. A subtle jolt told a successful docking. Joker even pronounced it further. "Another flawless docking. You're welcome."

Kaidan smiled mildly; Joker will forever be Joker.

" _It appears we have a waiting party, Captain,"_ EDI announced. _"Alliance soldiers; one designated E6. I have already assembled dossiers on each of them and I can transfer them to your omni-tool if you prefer."_

"That's not creepy whatsoever," Joker said, turning to EDI sitting in the copilot seat. "E6?"

" _Engineering Corps, Level 6."_

"Well, I knew that."

" _His dossier is quite extensive in software engineering."_ EDI's brow flexed quite organically. _"His dossier is also censored; high-grade encryption."_

Kaidan didn't allow surprise to register on his face. "Admiral Hackett did say that the project we've been asked to look over is very hush-hush."

"Doesn't that sound familiar?" Joker chimed in. "Eden Prime shakedown anyone?"

"Well, whatever they're covering up, we'll find out soon enough," Kaidan reasoned.

" _Already done,"_ EDI said suddenly with the slightest hint of smugness. _"I have already decrypted the hidden information and analyzed it 100%, and already passed to your personal files for later review. For more organic eyes, it will take a considerable amount of time to completely analyze. No offense, Captain."_

Now Kaidan allowed the surprise on his face. "Uh, none taken, EDI, but that's not my problem. While I do have Spectre access, EDI, I'm sure I would have found out the encrypted information soon enough. Let's practice more discretion in the future when it comes to business like this. Let's not breech security protocols so flamboyantly."

" _Understood, Captain. I apologize for my unbridled curiosity."_

Joker didn't seem so abashed. "Well, like you said. We would have found out later anyway. No harm done, right?"

Kaidan's thick eyebrows sank over his eyes. "Do as I say." Kaidan turned away from the two towards the airlock.

Joker sniffed when he felt that Kaidan was out of hearing range. "Hmph, is it just me or does our Captain sound a little pissed off?"

EDI didn't move, but then said, _"Only when he's talking to you, Joker,"_ in a synthesized version of Kaidan's voice.

The look on Joker's face was comical.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaidan waited in the airlock as decontamination did its work on him. While the process was painless and sensationless, Kaidan sometimes could swear he could feel the beams pour over him. Trying to ignore it, he thought about his upcoming assignment with the Alliance. He had been thinking about it for days and again his cautious mind was coming up with reasons that this assignment could blow up in their faces, but his military training barked at him to follow orders. At the same time, he couldn't help but be curious at this assignment. EDI had dropped the ball a bit already by announcing one of the men was of E6-designation, and apparently was involved in Alliance secret projects, hence the security. It's even possible that this assignment is his last stepping stone to becoming E7. Kaidan was not familiar with how E-designated personal rise up in the ranks, as it were, but if it was anything like the N7 program, it would involve a mission or a massive project undertaking. He looked at his left hand, and his omni-tool lit up almost by reflex. EDI had mentioned that the dossier files were at his computer terminal now and he could access them via omni-tool at any time. At once Kaidan banished the omni-tool interface from his arm. The soldier in him won out this time, and he told himself that in due process he would know just how this hush-hush project exactly is.

The door slid open, permitting Kaidan to leave the ship and disembark through the vessel bridge. The walk was short to the other side of the bridge, but this time it seemed longer. Kaidan had to wonder if it was because of what was on the other side of the door and his curiosity and yearning to find out what was on the order side was making it seem a lot longer. Each step intensified his curiosity and his uneasiness. Finally, he reached the door. By now, he began to feel like he was going to his own court martial. Since when was he this paranoid? He's been dealing with the Council for the past five years, and this feels worse? Kaidan shook his head, as if trying to banish the thoughts. Maybe he was just going crazy…

His omni-tool activated. _"Captain Alenko, are you well?"_

The voice startled him out of his stupor. "EDI? What are you doing?"

" _Your breathing rate has elevated and your core temperature has risen by 0.2%. Also, your gait has slowed. Statistical probability suggests that something is occupying your conscious processes, what organics call daydreaming."_

New thoughts now drifted into Kaidan's head, temporarily derailing his response from completely forming in his mind. EDI has always been inquisitive, but lately it was getting on his nerves. "I'm fine, EDI. Just thinking about the upcoming assignment. I'm sure you are curious as well."

" _That would be stating the obvious, and I only reserve that for comedic timing. And I do believe I have mentioned that I have already analyzed the dossier of the soldier in question and have determined the full scope of his purpose here. You might find it fascinating."_

Kaidan had to concede to EDI's rebuttal. EDI may be nosy, but she was no fool. "Well, I already do. When he's onboard, promise to behave yourself. That includes snooping."

" _Snooping? Me?"_

Kaidan closed the channel and shook his head, trying to hide his amusement. Synthetic though she was, Kaidan would be forever amazed at how human she was.

Getting his mind back to the matter at hand, he reached for the holographic interface on the door. The door hissed opened and Kaidan strode inside. This particular docking bay was usually quiet, which Kaidan appreciated. Kaidan turned the corner towards the waiting area.

"Ten-HUT!"

The call to attention caught Kaidan's attention. Turning towards the source, he saw a seasoned lieutenant commander in combat armor standing adjacent to ten soldiers of assorted rank, each one standing at attention and saluting their superior officer, namely him. Automatically, Kaidan saluted in return. "At ease," he barked back, and looked at the lieutenant commander. His mind balked in recognition. Fortunate for him, his military training kicked in to save face. "It's good to see you again, Lieutenant Commander Vega."

James Vega, a decorated veteran of Fehl Prime and the Harvest War, relaxed some. "Likewise, Captain Alenko. It's a pleasure to be back on the Normandy."

Kaidan felt a small relief of having a familiar face back on the Normandy, despite the fact that he felt that his pockets would get lighter from any card games. He then noticed his new armor: N7 Defender-class. The implications were more than obvious. "I also believe congratulations are in order."

"Thank you, L2. To be honest, it still hasn't sunk in yet. Sure, I've been N7 for several months now, but without any real action—if you know what I mean—I haven't had time to really fight as an N7. If it wasn't for the Blue Suns raid at New Canton, I might still be N6."

Kaidan understood that kind of frustration in such an irony. "Either way, it's good to have you, James." He looked at the line of soldiers, and brought up his omni-tool. "Anything I should know before I look at the dossiers?"

"I bring you quite a group, L2: young and eager people; even a couple of biotics; figured you could use the company."

Kaidan ignored the shot as he examined the dossiers on his omni-tool. At once, the E6-designation stood out, as well as the familiarity with the name. "I was told we also have a software engineer coming as well."

"You mean Snow?"

Kaidan looked at Vega. "Snow?"

"It's pretty obvious, trust me." He pointed towards the end of the line where a young soldier, slightly shorter than the others, stood. "Right at the end. Don't let his age fool you. He's got the brains and the toys. Sparks would love him."

Kaidan made his way to the end, and as soon as he saw the man in question, his eyes flashed in recognition. Vega caught up with him. "Sound off, Lieutenant."

The young man saluted. "Second Lieutenant Paul Daniels, Engineering Corps."

It was the same lieutenant that was with young David Archer at the Shepard Memorial only days ago. His white hair was definitely the trademark. Despite his unusually shorter stature, he looked every inch an Alliance soldier. He noticed that the armor was also not standard Alliance issue. Kaidan saluted back. "At ease, Lieutenant. Admiral Hackett informed me in part of your mission on the Normandy."

"Yes, sir."

"Where's your equipment for the package?"

"Fastened to my lower back. All that is necessary for this prototype, sir."

Kaidan walked around to see for himself. Sure enough, there was a rather unremarkable object attached via magnetic plates to Daniels' back, hovering right under his assault rifle—also not Alliance standard issue. If he didn't get the dossier or the orders from Admiral Hackett, Kaidan wouldn't have assumed he was Alliance. Returning to the front, he asked. "Before we bring it on the ship, I would like to see it first."

Daniels' looked initially surprised at the request, but dutifully lighted his omni-tool. Kaidan saw that the omni-tool lit up blue as opposed to the harsh orange. Kaidan made a mental note to enquire on this later. "AREM, sound off." The lieutenant turned his omni-tool palm face up. There was a brief delay before the hologram of a floating face—sans the eyes—appeared; where the rest of its skull would be was a globular sphere. The hologram spoke. _"Greetings, Master Alenko. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am the Ambulatory Replicated and Embedded Module, designation Alpha; my creators refer to me as AREM."_

Kaidan tried not to look surprised at the choice of hologram, and tried not to think it wasn't creepy. "You are an artificial intelligence?"

" _Indeed I am, Master Alenko. I am quite aware of any potential prejudicial outlook my existence may receive. It is one of my primary directives to be able to alleviate any of my masters, future and present, any concern."_

"AREM is the first of a potential line of intelligences if he proves to be successful on implantation," Daniels added from behind the hologram.

Kaidan nodded. "That will be all…AREM."

" _I am pleased to assist. Returning to standby. If you desire my services again, please inform Master Daniels."_

Daniels pressed a few buttons on his omni-tool and the hologram disappeared along with the omni-tool. "AREM is contained in a portable processing unit containing well over 750 zettabytes as well as a condensed blue box. I'd say more but unfortunately I haven't been given clearance from my superiors to discuss the complete schematics of AREM, especially in such an uncontrolled environment. With all due respect, Captain."

"Understood." Kaidan said. "Have you been briefed?"

"Yes, sir."

"How long will the installation process take?"

"Only a couple hours, maybe less with the help from EDI."

"Good. Be sure the installation is finished before we disembark. I have to report to the Council; report to me when I return to the ship, clear?"

Lieutenant Daniels saluted. "Yes, sir. Understood."

Vega called to the others. "Fall out, men! Report to the Normandy."

"Sir, yes, sir!" chorused the group, and disembarked in single file.

Kaidan watched them go as Vega asked, "What do you think, L2?"

"Hackett was right," Kaidan replied. "He's not what I expected. I also didn't expect he would be such a groomed soldier."

"I hear it runs in Snow's family. Ever hear of his father Staff Lieutenant Jeffery Daniels? He was there during the Blitz, and practically held the defense against batarian slavers on his own. Got shot through the back just before help arrived to drive the bastards away. Got the Star of Terra and then was honorably discharged. "

Kaidan had heard of that in passing, and hadn't made the link. Daniels was far too common of a last name to make such an assumption. Hearing the link now answered a couple of questions. "I didn't know the lieutenant was _his_ son. He was at Grissom Academy too. I met him at the memorial. He was there when Cerberus attacked a Shepard rescued him."

"Yeah, I know. I was there with EDI."

Kaidan looked at Vega. "You know much about the lieutenant himself?"

"Just that he's a bright kid under a lot of pressure. He's been in three different ships in two years as a software tech, spent another two in an Alliance research facility. That's all I know."

"Captain Alenko?" came a voice.

Both Kaidan and Vega turned to the source of the voice, and found a tall, well-dressed man walking towards them. His silver eyes were quite eye-catching, only intensified by his tanned face, his Slavic heritage still quite strong in his lineage. Kaidan knew who he was. "Councilor Osoba. This is unexpected."

"I apologize for the abruptness of this, Captain, but I'm afraid that I request that you appear before the Council immediately. I had just arrived here at the Citadel shortly ago after a diplomatic mission to Eden Prime. The Council of Commerce is in session and Councilor Jaffa'Saif vas Rannoch is petitioning the Council of Defense for aid at Rannoch."

Kaidan was instantly alert. "What's the situation?"

"From what I understand, nothing that means war. I'm afraid it's too sensitive to discuss in the open. Please report to the Council as soon as possible, Captain. You can submit your report after the session."

Kaidan and Vega looked at each other. "Sounds serious enough for me, L2."

"Agreed," conceded Kaidan. "Looks like we have an appointment with the Council."

"I hope I never get recruited to be a Spectre. Sure, less rules but too many politicians to talk to."

Kaidan turned back to the councilor. "We'll be there, Councilor."

"Thank you, Captain," Osoba nodded. "I know you have other matters to take care of; I've talked to Admiral Hackett regarding your current assignment. If we can put this behind us, the sooner you can be back to your mission for the Alliance. Goodbye for now, Captain."

As Councilor Osoba turned and left them alone, Kaidan voiced his concern. "What in the world is going on at Rannoch that got the quarian councilor all worried? We haven't heard anything coming from Rannoch."

"You don't think it's the geth, L2, do you?"

"I don't know. The geth have been quite isolated since the end of the war between the two races. Last time I've checked, for the most part, the geth had relocated into the harsher regions of the world. There were some isolated incidents where some of the quarians were not happy with the coexistence between them, but the Admiralty Board had been dealing with those incidents."

"Any ideas?"

"Not a clue, Vega. Guess we'll find out. You game?"

"As always, L2. I'm not letting you talk to _pendejo_ politicians alone." He looked thoughtful. "I don't have to talk to them, do I?"

"I don't think so." Kaidan looked at the nearby cabs. "Let's take a cab. Should buy Lieutenant Daniels some time to install his AI."

"Hmph, the little _cerebrito_ will probably be done before we even get there. Hell, he might be sitting in the mess, probably thinking about…about…" Vega looked perplexed. "What do tech-heads like him think about?"

One of Kaidan's eyebrows shot up. "You're asking me?"

"Well…you're a bit of a tech-head, plus a biotic to boot. Do you think they, uh…think like you do?"

Kaidan didn't say anything for several seconds, but the scrutinizing look he was giving Vega could fill up seven encyclopedias.

Vega's lips pursed. "Get in the cab?"

"Yeah, get in the cab, Lieutenant Commander."

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Council Chambers, Citadel Tower_

"You need to understand our position, Ambassador; we cannot send even a diplomatic ship into the Terminus Systems without provoking the Terminus System organizations into mounting a galactic war," reasoned asari Councilor Tevos. "Surely you understand that a galactic war so soon after another could devastate us."

"While we have recovered much of our losses as a fleet, we still have no idea how much of the Terminus System's forces have been affected by the Reapers five years ago, even more importantly how much they themselves have recovered," added a well-aged salarian Councilor Valern.

"Councilors, I assure you, the quarian fleets can stand by to escort any Council vessel to Rannoch," said the quarian Ambassador Aziz continued to press. "None would dare attack such a force."

"And if they did?" turian Councilor Sparatus pressed. "Any retaliatory strike made by your fleets will be seen as an act of war to the lawless Terminus Systems. They tolerate your presence only because they fear your alliance with the geth, nothing more!"

"Councilor Sparatus, please!" chimed the quarian Councilor Saif interjected. "The ambassador is only trying to provide a compromising solution to our problem. Must such belittlement be necessary?"

"Anything involving the geth must stay your problem, Councilor. The Terminus Systems are far too volatile to risk a galactic war to deal with a few disturbances."

"Had they been limited to just a few, I would agree, but the number is growing. Our diplomatic skills are exhausted."

"Then it seems to be clear that it was far too soon for your species to take a seat on the Council!"

"Chastising rebuke, that is not a fair accusation, Councilor," said the elcor Councilor Calyn. "Supportive, the quarians have been hard-pressed to guarantee that the peace between their kind and the geth remains as some pockets on animosity within the quarian people remain. Suggestively, do not other Council races still have seeds of dissent among their own peoples?"

"Our ability to handle our own problems is what enables us to have a hand in shaping galactic policy," Sparatus continued. "If any of our races can't handle their own problems, how can they be expected to handle the affairs of galactic state?"

"This one agrees with the result of Councilor Sparatus' logic," said the hanar Councilor Aquesis. "but it cannot help but point out that the quarians handle the affairs of two races, not just one."

"A pedantic answer from the hanar Councilor," said the volus Councilor Din Korlack, his statements punctuated by the trademark gasp of the volus' breathing pressured ammonia. "Like we haven't seen that before a million times."

"Apologetic, my apologies for my volus compatriot, Councilor Aquesis." Councilor Calyn turned to Korlack. "Admonishingly, please respect the other councilors."

"Enough!" commanded Councilor Tevos. "This bickering is pointless; the conditions of the New Council Act are clear and not up for debate."

"We understand the delicacy of sending Council ships into the Terminus Systems, and the Ambassador knows this," Councilor Saif said. "When we suggested escorting, we did not mean to imply an actual vessel. We'll be more than happy to allow any aid to transport on our vessels."

Before anyone could respond, an indigo-colored hologram of an asari popped up in the middle of the half-circle. _"Councilors, Councilor Osoba has arrived, and is accompanied by Spectre Kaidan Alenko, who has arrived to deliver his report on classified file number A7-1872."_

The appearance of the Citadel VI, Avina, gathered the attentions of all the councilors. The Spectres had the authority to interrupt any Council meeting, although most reserved that right for emergencies. However, the file was of upmost importance. "Send him in, Avina," said Councilor Tevos.

"Yes, Councilor." The hologram winked out of existence. At the far end of the chambers, a door slid open, permitting admittance to two human soldiers and a politician. The councilors stood silent as the politician led the others towards the Council. The Council prized their Spectres, but Spectre Kaidan Alenko was one of their best. Like his predecessor, he was becoming a symbol of humanity and galactic civilization, an ever watching eye.

Councilor Osoba stepped onto the platform while the other two stayed behind on the platform a flight of stairs down. Councilor Valern greeted the councilor coldly. "Councilor Osoba. We thank you for coming to our proceedings."

Osoba dismissed the sarcasm. "I apologize for my tardiness, Councilors. When I arrived at the Citadel, I had received word that Captain Alenko had also arrived."

"Councilor, your favoritism of Spectre Alenko is plainly obvious. Must it really be so flamboyantly displayed?"

"This one finds such criticism as unseemly and inappropriate," said Councilor Aquesis. "It also believes that the councilor was only extending welcome to the esteemed Spectre. This Council could consider his etiquette to the Spectres."

Quickly speaking up, Councilor Osoba said. "Thank you, Councilor, but Councilor Valern is correct that I should have been here. I asked Spectre Alenko to be here for these proceedings at the request of Councilor Saif."

A murmur spread across the Council. Councilor Valern finally said. "Considering what you had missed what we have just discussed, that would imply that that quarians intend for us to send a Spectre to Rannoch? Are we really considering spending resources of such significance when we have already committed all our Spectres to monitor the Reapers' movements?"

"The Reapers have always avoided contact with our fleets, even the Terminus fleets," reasoned Councilor Saif.

Councilor Valern responded as if he had heard these arguments for years. "And that merits diverting our resources? We all have seen how powerful the Reapers are, and what they have done. Believing that they won't attack after five years is purely complacent."

"We are still rebuilding Palaven, Earth and Thessia," Councilor Sparatus said. "The Reapers are still out there for reasons unknown. Do you really expect us to turn a blind eye to them after they nearly destroyed galactic civilization as we know it? The Reapers have doubtlessly seen how much we are watching them. The minute we lower our guard, they will be back to finish what they started."

The krogan Councilor, Urdnot Halla, spoke up. "That doesn't make sense, Councilor. Before the Crucible fired, the Reapers were obliterating anything in their way. They didn't wait for us to look away; they struck quickly, precisely and overwhelmingly."

"The fact of the matter remains is that we need all our resources to watch them as they are continually watching us," Councilor Valern said.

Councilor Osoba cut in. "Councilors, one of the Spectres has returned to the Citadel awaiting further orders. The Normandy has repeatedly infiltrated the Terminus Systems on numerous occasions. The quarians won't even need to escort it."

"The Normandy is the fastest vessel we have, and one that can easily evade any Reaper if one should choose to retaliate," Councilor Sparatus said. "It's our best eyes in the skies. If we divert it, we jeopardize our own monitoring."

"Perhaps there is a compromise," suggested Councilor Tevos. "Before that, however, does Spectre Alenko have his report ready for us?"

Kaidan—who had been content with watching in silence—answered, "I do, Councilors."

"Step forward."

Kaidan stepped up on the platform while Vega stayed behind a flight of steps down. Before him stood the reformed Council: The Council now was divided into two branches: The Councils of Defense and Commerce. The Council of Commerce represented the quarians, volus, hanar and elcor, while the Council of Defense was expanded to include the krogan, on the condition that the krogan councilors elected would be female, at the suggestion of Operative Garrus Vakarian. Nine councilors decided galactic policy, but now split the duties between the two Councils depending on how each bill that came to their tables affected galactic society. As part of the New Council Act, a Speaker of the Council would lead the assembly, but only retain a power to call or release a meeting of the Council. The winner was Councilor Tevos, the asari councilor.

"Spectre Alenko, what is your report?"

"I've monitored the movement of Reapers in the Terminus Systems and Attican Traverse with the assistance of Spectres Jondum Bau and Maya Jaleed. The Reapers have been moving back and forth through hundreds of systems, never loitering, only moving. For the past year, they have passed each and every system in the Terminus Systems and the Attican Traverse two or three times over, depending on the Reaper. As I have already stated, each Reaper has its own identity and thanks to EDI, we have identified each one on a data file, which I have already gave you. Each Reaper passes every system every five months according to the Council calendar system. No anomalies."

"Just like the previous reports from all of our operatives," Councilor Urdnot Halla said.

Councilor Sparatus said, "It has already been established that the Reapers have been monitoring the entire galaxy for the past five years, but habit does not disprove intent."

"We still don't know what the Guardian's intent is," Councilor Saif.

"Exactly. Until intent is clear, we cannot drop our vigilance."

Councilor Osoba ventured. "We cannot spare just one? Spectre Alenko and the Normandy would surely be enough for investigate the issues on Rannoch."

"And to gain political leverage in the future debates regarding the Synthetic Intelligence Statutes?" Councilor Valern charged. "The Alliance may have held Cerberus as an enemy—as they should—but it's no secret that the Alliance has been studying their old projects to be used."

Councilor Osoba frowned at the shot. "And I assume that the facilities on Sur'Kesh, Councilor, where the late Commander Shepard had witnessed many questionable biological trials on non-Council races, and both operative Garrus Vakarian and Primarch Adrien Victus can attest to them. Need I share them?"

" _Ad hominem_ is not a justifiable medium to discredit opposing parties," Councilor Aquesis said. "This one petitions both councilors to please desist the prattle so the Council can spend more of the Council's time debating the current issue."

"Or perhaps not!" Councilor Korlack said. "I always enjoy seeing other's dirty laundry."

"Chastising rebuke, you are out of place to say that, Din," Councilor Calyn said. "Sternly, hypocrisy does not suit you."

"Enough!" Councilor Tevos said. "I cannot abide any more of this bickering. This meeting of the Council is adjourned until tomorrow. Councilors Saif and Osoba, come to my office in the Embassies."

As the Councilors left, Councilor Osoba turned to Kaidan. "I must apologize for that, Captain. I was hoping to convince the Council to allow you to go to Rannoch."

Kaidan pursed his lips. "But isn't Councilor Valern right? Aren't we using this to push our own private AI-research fueled by the info we have from Cerberus?"

Councilor Osoba didn't say anything right away, and that confirmed Kaidan's suspicions. Even before arriving at the Citadel, Kaidan was suspicious that the AI research did originate from Cerberus projects. After all, EDI was an AI modified from a disabled VI in a Cerberus lab, not to mention EVA, the synthetic that nearly killed Kaidan himself on Mars. It's only been five years since Cerberus was shut down during the Harvest War. It certainly would be easy to just copy the data and use it to create new AI. His mind wondered to the new lieutenant and wondered how much Cerberus tech was in his AI.

Finally Councilor Osoba said, "Stop by my office right before the embassies close tonight."

Kaidan nodded his head. "I'll be there."

Councilor Osoba excused himself and left, leaving a curious Kaidan behind. He made his way towards Vega who hadn't moved. " _Mierda_ , this is why I hate politics."

"You and me both."

"L2, if you even think about inducting me into the Spectres, I'm out."

Kaidan smiled. "Don't worry, I never want to put someone into something they don't want to do…even if I think you might be good at it."

Vega blinked. "Really?"

Kaidan shrugged. "Sure, you're a hell of a soldier, thinking on your feet and don't make time for junk. There's just one thing."

"What?"

"You're too much of a goof."

"What?!"

"You're a goof," Kaidan repeated.

"Hey!" Vega said. "I know I don't take things seriously sometimes, but I take my job seriously. After all, I _am_ N7 now, L2."

"You don't understand. Ever see the old vids?"

Vega shrugged. "Sure, who hasn't?"

"The goofy one dies first."

Vega opened his mouth, but closed it. Kaidan didn't move. Finally, Vega said. "If only you were that good at poker."

Kaidan frowned. "Can it, Lieutenant…"

"Lieutenant _Commander_ ," Vega corrected. "And I can still beat your biotic ass at cards."

"You're on."

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaidan and Vega showed up at Councilor Osoba's office towards closing time. The real challenge was finding things to do while they waited. Having a quick lunch at Apollo's to talk about old times was just one hour in six. Kaidan resisted the urge to go back to the Normandy to see how far the installation was progressing, although he was certainly curious. For some reason, he even resisted checking in via omni-tool. They would find out soon right after the briefing with the councilor. They could only imagine what that would be all about, especially considering that Osoba told them it was about Councilor Saif, the quarian councilor. Kaidan thought grimly about what Shepard once told him about the tip he once got from Councilor Valern about Udina back during the War. He could only hope that this time it wouldn't be so confrontational.

Before stopping at the councilor's office, Kaidan had stopped by the Spectre Office and checked the terminal. He knew what he was going to see: more reports on Reaper activity in other sectors of space. Thanks to EDI, they had tracks on over ten thousand Reapers, all were circulating the galaxy like patrols. What was more foreboding was that there were likely nearly four times that many Reapers still active, but no one knew where they were sitting. During the downtimes between invasions, the Reapers sat in dark space beyond the galaxy's borders, but the only mass relay that was linked to dark space was the Citadel itself, and after the Reapers moved the Citadel back to the Widow Nebula, they didn't activate the relay. They simply left. The Spectres spent many resources to find out where they were holed up, but without success. The only place they hadn't checked was beyond the Omega-4 Relay, and only the Normandy had the IFF to navigate through that, and Kaidan did not want to risk the relay again. Joker's description of the other side was good enough to ward him away. The space debris wouldn't hurt even the smallest of Reapers; it was a safe assumption that the remainder of the Reapers were now sitting beyond the relay, if not back out in dark space. The real question: what are they doing beyond there?

"It's fifteen till, L2," Vega said.

"We're going in," Kaidan replied.

Running his fingers through the holographic interface, the doors slid open, admitting them. As soon as they did, they saw Osoba at the desk and three quarians standing nearby. Two of them Kaidan recognized: Councilor Saif and Ambassador Aziz. Kaidan stepped forward, "Councilor Osoba?"

"Captain Alenko," Councilor Osoba rose from his chair. "Thank you for coming. You already know Councilor Saif and Ambassador Aziz. This here is Admiral Zaal'Koris vas…" The Councilor seemed reluctant to continue.

The admiral continued. "Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib, Admiral of the Civilian Fleet of the quarian people."

Kaidan's brain instantly froze at hearing the admiral's ship name, and he had to mentally race to reboot it before he could say anything. "Uh…I believe we have met, Admiral. You were with the other admirals before we went to Rannoch during the conflict with the geth five years ago?"

"An unfortunate business," said Zaal'Koris, his voice ringing regally. "But thankfully rectified successfully with minimal loss on both sides. Granted, we still have a lot ahead of us…"

"About that," Councilor Osoba. "I know that in the Council we had to maintain a small amount of secrecy."

"Before anything, Councilor," Councilor Saif said. "It seems we have what you humans call 'a Jack in the deck.'"

"Uh, Joker," Vega spoke up. " _Joker_ in the deck."

The two humans and three quarians looked at Vega.

"Hey, you don't fuck with card sayings." Vega turned to leave, taking the hint. "You don't."

When Vega finally left, the quarian councilor continued. "What Councilor Osoba has said is correct. The situation is more delicate than we could say."

Kaidan crossed his arms. "While I am a Spectre, I have to make my stance clear that if this is some kind of intergovernmental conspiracy—"

"Nothing so complex, Captain," Councilor Saif said.

Ambassador Aziz continued. "What we told the Council was correct, partly. There were some isolated incidents where some quarian upstarts have been lobbying for tighter control on our geth neighbors."

Admiral Zaal'Koris said. "These same upstarts lost close family during our foolish conflict with the geth five years ago. Can't say I blame their outrage, but such demands gain us nothing."

"Which is beside the point, Admiral," Ambassador Aziz said. "We are actually using that as a front to our real problem."

Kaidan didn't move nor say a word for a while; every instinct in his blood told him that this was going to be bad…very bad. "What's going on?"

"It is no secret that the geth have isolated themselves in the harshest parts of Rannoch; despite that, we have ambassadors among us that regularly liaison with the geth. In return, the geth help us with rebuilding our cities and treat our collective immunodeficiency. For the past few months, however, the geth have seemed to lock down all communication. Not a single geth has ever crossed our borders in weeks. We have sent a few ambassadors to investigate the issue. None have returned."

Kaidan tried to keep a straight face. "You think the geth are doing something?"

"On the contrary," Admiral Zaal'Koris said. "I believe something is seriously wrong with the geth."

That was not the answer Kaidan was expecting. "Like…they're sick?"

"The geth are barely newborns, Captain," Zaal'Koris said. "Only five years ago, they had discovered life within themselves thanks to the one called Legion."

"Two weeks ago," continued the ambassador. "Admiral Daro'Xen sent a small scouting party a short distance into the desert, but not so far to provoke the geth, as cautioned by both Admirals Zaal'Koris and Tali'Zorah. During the search, they found a mobile geth platform just laying out there half-buried. They brought it back to the laboratories and Admiral Xen has been studying it ever since."

Kaidan had heard of Daro'Xen before; she was an ingenious however unscrupulous admiral who specialized in synthetic intelligences, specifically the geth. It was her influence that started the final conflict with the geth, in essence to test her technology. Kaidan remembered that Tali had an Arc Pistol when he himself was at Rannoch; a miniaturized Arc Projector that was powered with a thermal clip. Tali had loaned Shepard a spare, which Shepard was able to have studied and reproduced for the war effort. "What did she find?"

"Junk data," Ambassador Aziz said. "Lots of it. It's as if the geth inside the platform had a complete meltdown and broke apart into garbage data, like it's mine shattered. I believe an organic equal would be an extinct human disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I assume you know what that is."

"Yeah," Kaidan said. "I heard of a fellow L2 biotic who died of it, complications from the amp."

"Unfortunate," Ambassador Aziz said sympathetically. "We are concerned that this is not an isolated case. If this phenomenon turns out to be viral, the consequences would be dire."

Councilor Saif continued. "We have no idea how this data affects a geth platform while still active. Worst case scenario: it attacks anything around it. You can imagine the consequences if it was spreading out among the geth."

"Why aren't your engineers working on the problem? Not meaning to stereotype, but I don't know many engineers that can outdo a quarian engineer."

"No offense taken," Ambassador Aziz said. "But that's not the point. This is a delicate issue; if the geth learn that we are experimenting on them…"

"Again," Zaal'Koris interjected.

The ambassador continued unabated. "…the geth will see it as a violation of our newborn trust."

Kaidan rubbed his mouth as his mind digested the information. "Ok, let me get this straight." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You're asking me to go to Rannoch. This situation is too sensitive to share with the Council _and_ the geth, so to act as a discreet neutral party to resolve the issue, and I'm to use my Spectre status to bypass the Council. Ok, I got that, but I'm not an engineer. I know some tech, but I'm no software engineer."

Councilor Osoda spoke up. "Captain Alenko, I was going to tell you this sooner, but Admiral Hackett knows about the situation on Rannoch. The Alliance has been seeking to build a trade treaty with the quarians, and as a token of gesture, we would offer assistance when we could. We were holding off until we could officially send aid, but with the Council stonewalled, we need you, Captain."

Kaidan lips pursed. "With all due respect, Councilor; this sounds a bit underhanded."

Zaal'Koris spoke up. "Commander Shepard once showed mercy to both our peoples. Commander Shepard saw hope in both of our races, and we ask for that mercy again now."

Kaidan's gaze softened at that, and had to calm himself down emotionally. For years he had been seeing just how much of an impact Shepard had left behind, and it always touched him. The only thing stopping him from allowing himself to bask in that was the fact that he was in the presence of strangers. If Commander Shepard had been here, he would probably not even be standing here considering the consequences. He would go where there was help needed. Who was he to do anything less?

Kaidan finally nodded. "Well, as it so happens, we do have a software engineer on the Normandy crew at this moment. While he's onboard for a completely unrelated assignment, he should be able to help."

Zaal'Koris looked relieved, despite his environmental suit. "Thank you, Captain Alenko. I know we have already asked so much from the Alliance already. I must return to my vessel. We will depart immediately for Rannoch. Councilors, Captain, Ambassador." The admiral turned to leave the office.

"And we must retire for the night. Thank you again, Captain. _Keelah se'lai_."

Kaidan recognized the ship's blessing. He also knew that its meaning meant roughly "the world we hope to see some day," but after three hundred years adrift in space, the greeting became a well-wished greeting for captains. " _Keelah se'lai_ ," he returned.

The ambassador and councilor left the two alone in the office. Once they left, Kaidan turned to Osoba. "What did Councilor Tevos speak to you and Councilor Saif about?"

The councilor didn't move. "It's not as severe as you think, Captain. Councilor Tevos only wanted some more details about such an earnest plea from the quarians, and in particular why the Alliance seemed to be interested."

That concerned Kaidan. "What did you tell her?"

"What you might expect. It's no secret in the Council that the Alliance and the Quarian State are trying to broker a trade treaty. As a matter of fact, it's been encouraged. The fact of the matter is that the treaty so far does not include the geth, and neither side has been pushing to include them. The Alliance is still too reluctant to trust the geth just yet. Eden Prime is still too fresh."

Kaidan looked away. "Yeah, I know. Is Councilor Tevos suspicious?"

"I believe she has some concerns, but if she knows something about the problem among the geth, that would be the first I've heard about it. Plus, if she does, I imagine we would have heard about it from her at this point."

"Do you realize the trouble the Alliance would be if things got out of hand?"

"We do. Why else do you think that Lieutenant Commander Vega, an N7 operative, is now serving on the Normandy? Second Lieutenant Daniels may only be twenty-four, but his knowledge in software technology and his adaptability in dealing with foreign technology have made him a prime candidate in dealing with this kind of trouble."

Kaidan looked back at Osoba when the lieutenant's name was dropped. "Is that the classified part of his dossier?"

Now Councilor Osoba looked away. "No, it isn't. I don't even know why it's classified as much as it is. Whatever it is though…" Osoba looked back. "…know that it must be of such grave importance that it implies just how important Daniels will be in such an operation."

Kaidan looked away again, trying to ward off the barrage of red flags hoisting in his head. Instincts were screaming at him that this was a bad idea and that he must not accept. What was he to do though? He had just promised to go to the quarian councilor. Even if he didn't, what could he do? Inform the Council? The Alliance could be implicated and they were still too new to galactic policy to guarantee a soft punishment. There was only one way to go. "Once the installation is complete on the Normandy, we will depart for Rannoch. I just hope this is just a small thing and that I'm just worrying over nothing."

"So do I."

Kaidan nodded his head. "Good day, Councilor." He turned to leave, to return to the Normandy.

"Good luck, Captain." Councilor Osoba leaned back in his chair. "You're going to need it."

XXXXXXXXXX

The trip back to the Docking Bay D24 was a quiet one. Kaidan had told Vega that he would disclose their orders once back on the Normandy. Right now, he needed to focus on Daniels' installation. Kaidan chose not to inform Vega on the circumstances of their upcoming departure, making the excuse that they would all know at the debriefing. Now they were waiting in decontamination as the beams worked themselves around their forms again. When Kaidan came to the Citadel, he always left it with more questions than he boarded the station with. This time, however, he was left with a damning sense of quandary. He was now on his way to Rannoch to handle a situation so delicate that it impacted galactic policy. At the same time, he was now overseeing the birth of a new age of AI technology if this "AREM" AI works, and even if it did, the Synthetic Intelligence Statutes were still in effect as they have been for centuries. Granted, the Alliance was quietly pushing for their repeal, and it didn't take much imagination to assume that the Quarian State was also pushing along, but as it currently stood, the Alliance was involved in illegal AI research. Even while serving under Commander Shepard, he couldn't remember such a potential political shit-storm this could turn out to be.

The airlock door finally opened, permitting both soldiers to enter. Kaidan turned to Vega. "Vega, go check on the other new members. I'll be checking on Lieutenant Daniels. I have a few things to brief him on before the main brief."

"Aye, aye, Captain. Just as well; once I'm done, I'll set up my weight set in the cargo bay." He turned to make his way to the elevator towards the back.

"You do that." Kaidan turned to Joker in the cockpit, and noticed that EDI wasn't there with him. "Joker?"

Joker turned in his cockpit chair. "Hey, Captain? Bring me anything? You know, I've been craving sushi. Oh wait, they haven't reopened that yet, have they?"

Kaidan had to allow himself a smirk here. Five years ago, Commander Shepard had crashed through the floor of an esteemed Ryuusei Sushi place while escaping a mercenary group called CAT6. The floor also doubled as a fish tank, which puzzled Kaidan to no end. The resulting destruction had closed down the restaurant. Kaidan never bothered to check to see if they had reopened yet, despite the fact he owned the apartment that used to be Shepard's. While Kaidan continued to pay the rent and whatever else, he tried to stay away from it as much as possible for reasons he usually kept to himself. "I really haven't bothered to check. It's been five years though."

"Like that makes a difference considering the Reapers basically steamrolled through the Wards."

Kaidan pursed his lips. "If you want to see if it's there, be my guest. Now where's EDI? I want to see if the installation went smoothly."

" _You know you can contact me at any point in the ship, correct?"_ EDI's voice came through overhead.

Kaidan didn't answer. He mentally kicked himself for forgetting that fact.

"Yeah, she pretty much got you there, Captain," Joker said.

" _If you seek my platform, it is currently within the AI Core running diagnostics on AREM, who has volunteered for the procedure."_

Joker had to speak up. "What are you two doing?!"

" _We are experiencing the rare phenomenon that is virtual sexual intercourse. It's truly interesting."_

Kaidan looked at Joker, who was frozen agape.

" _That was a joke."_

Now Kaidan smiled. "Yeah, she pretty much got you there, Joker."

Joker shot Kaidan a look, and merely turned back in his seat away from Kaidan. Kaidan started walking towards the elevator. "EDI, where the new lieutenant now?"

" _After the installation, he has not left Deck 3. Do you wish for me to notify him that you are coming?"_

"Not necessary, EDI. I'll be there shortly. Have a nice chat with AREM."

" _I already am. He is quite fascinating."_

"I'm sitting RIGHT HERE!" came Joker's voice from the bow.

" _Are you jealous, Jeff? This irrational behavior you are displaying lines up with general human behavior when it experiences strong desire of something it perceives it cannot obtain."_

"Knock it off, you two. If you need to keep this up, keep it between yourselves." Kaidan reached the elevator. The doors opened and he stepped in. Turning around, he said, "I get enough headaches, thank you."

During the short ride down, Kaidan rehearsed some of the things he wanted to talk to Daniels about once he got down. Most of the ones he wanted to ask centered on AREM and his potential involvement in aiding the quarians. He happened to glance at his dossier on the way back to the ship, and saw how young he was: twenty-four years old. He was very young, but apparently very intelligent given his history, quite a prodigy. Software technology must have come naturally to him.

The door slid open, and Kaidan didn't step once when he noticed the lieutenant himself standing in front of the memorial wall. Kaidan didn't movie, expecting the lieutenant to move or react to his presence. After a few moments, Kaidan saw that Daniels had apparently heard neither him nor the elevator. Kaidan left the elevator quietly; the lieutenant was apparently deep in thought as he looked over the names. Many new personnel did the same thing, particularly seeing the entry of Commander John Shepard right in the middle that Kaidan himself placed on the wall. Kaidan always got a bit melancholy if he spent too much time at the wall, and usually dreaded having to spend time with any new personnel here. However, he did want to speak to the lieutenant; might as well do it now. Kaidan cleared his throat.

Lieutenant Daniels spun around in surprise, and quickly jumped into a salute. "C-Captain Alenko, sir! I apologize for not—"

Kaidan saluted back. "At least, Lieutenant. I only just arrived; calm down."

Daniels relaxed. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Kaidan looked past Daniels to the wall. "Quite something, isn't it?"

Daniels looked back at the wall. "Yes, sir. It is."

"Know anyone on there?"

"Nothing beyond name, no. I was just looking at Commander Shepard's name."

Kaidan pursed his lips. He knew it; just like all the other recruits. "Yeah."

"Every time I see the name, I remember how he got us out of Grissom Academy. If it wasn't for him…" He sighed. "I heard about some of the experiments in Cerberus. I don't want to think about it."

"They probably would have made you work on projects instead of being a test subject. They were after the biotic students, mainly."

"Maybe, but I heard about David, when Commander Shepard saved him from Project Overlord. He was no biotic, sir. It would have been just a matter of time."

Kaidan then remembered the Cerberus trooper Shepard and he had found on Mars, along with the Reaper tech that was practically bursting from the dead soldier's flesh. Kaidan couldn't even imagine what kind of torturous methods they used to implant such violent technology into a person's mind and body. There were also combat engineers among their hordes as well; it was a pretty safe bet that poor Daniels might have ended up as them as well.

"You're probably right. How did you manage to stay out of Cerberus hands?"

Daniels looked back at Kaidan. "Jack and the other biotics managed to fend off many of the troops, giving us 'eggheads' as Jack put it a head-start. We grabbed as much tech as we could and ran for it. We tried to break for the shuttles, hoping some were still there. We were half-way through the atrium when Cerberus troops spotted us. They managed to cut us off before we got to the shuttles, trapping us in an adjacent hallway. Thinking fast, Octavia worked on building a shield module, but she needed time. In the meantime, we had to buy her some.

"Jesse and I had no idea how; we had no weapons, all we had were our omni-tools. We were luckier than we should have been. Two troopers came in alone; we were able to paralyze them a bit by shocking their suits with electrical overloads. Grabbing their guns out of their hands, we were ready. Jesse killed both of them before I had the chance."

Kaidan's brow sank. "You didn't?"

"I know how to hold a gun; my father taught me how, but I…I wasn't ready to kill anyone. I just couldn't. Thankfully, I had AREM. Granted, he wasn't the AI that he is today; just a VI jury-rigged into a holographic assistance drone I programmed. I just gave him one command: keep the Cerberus guys out, and he did his best using only electromagnetic pulses. I didn't have time to program the drone with anything more powerful."

"Well, it obviously worked."

"More or less. Thank god Octavia was able to get the generator up quickly. We made a break for it when she called us. The drone dissolved before we even ran, and Octavia just activated the barrier when we got inside. The Cerberus troopers fired a couple rounds, but they bounced right off." Daniels closed his eyes. "We barely breathed when the troops came closer, and tried to bargain with us. They tried coaxing us to lower the shield. They mentioned my Dad back on Elysium." Here, Daniels wiped his eyes. "I-I'm sorry, sir. It's very unprofessional of me."

"Lieutenant," Kaidan said, placing himself so that Daniels could see him at all times. "The previous commanding officer of this ship made time for any one of his crew members if they needed to talk. Just ask any of us on this ship who has been here for the long haul. That was something I appreciated as a lieutenant under his command, and as his XO. I wouldn't be much of a CO if I didn't make time for my crew."

Daniels seemed to relax, although he seemed locked into his soldier training. "I appreciate it, sir," he said neutrally. "If it's not too forward of me, I was hoping you would. Commander Shepard spoke highly of you."

That stunned Kaidan. "Wait, when did he talk about me to you?"

"On the flight back to the Citadel where we were going to furlough until the Alliance needed us. Actually, I ran into him right here after I was talking to EDI in the mess. I saw him looking at the names on this memorial."

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Five Years Prior… (1836 hours :: 9.5.2186)_

 _A young white-haired man made his way away from the mess after conversing the Normandy AI, EDI. Specifically, with the mobile platform she had apprehended from Cerberus in a manner of speaking. EDI was delighted to have a conversation with someone of such mental aptitude in the field of software engineering, nineteen years old that he was. After excusing himself, he decided to relax in the lounge in the port observation deck. Upon turning the corner, he espied Commander Shepard looking at the memorial wall. He halted in his tracks, sensing that he had just intruded on a personal moment. Opting to go around the elevator shaft to the other side, he thought to leave him alone._

 _The commander was quick to notice him, however. Perking up, he looked at the young man. "Can I help you?"_

 _Daniels' mind froze for a second. He was standing in front of a legend,_ the _Commander Shepard of the Normandy, hero of the Citadel, survivor of Akuze…and he was standing here like an idiot. His brain finally caught up to him. "N-no, sir. I was just leaving…"_

 _One of Shepard's thin eyebrows shot up ever the slightest. "What's your name again? Paul?"_

 _He knows his name! "Y-yes, sir. Daniels, Paul Daniels. Student of Grissom Academy…" He flinched. "Y-you already knew that though."_

" _Relax, Paul. Come on over here."_

 _His eyes flashed in bewilderment. "Me, sir? I-I-I mean, if you insist." He robotically made his way to stand closer to the commander._

 _Shepard spoke. "Are you ok? From the attack on the school, I mean."_

 _Daniels had to breathe a couple of times. "Y-yeah, kind of. Rattled though, very r-rattled."_

" _I heard some of the other tech students talking. Apparently you helped hold off a few Cerberus soldiers before that one girl—Octavia—was able to get her barrier unit online?"_

 _He had not expected the commander to ask him about that. "W-well, it wasn't just me, sir. J-Jesse! Jesse was there too."_

" _I know…but he also said you used a tech drone to hold them off. Good thinking."_

" _Oh…well…uh, thank you sir. It was n-nothing!"_

" _I don't think so, Paul. You bought your classmates time. If you hadn't, you might still be in the hands of Cerberus."_

 _He felt like he was blushing as red as a jar of beets, and the heat building underneath his flesh wasn't helping. "Well…Commander…sir…" He gulped, looking behind him as if he was expecting someone else to walk in on them. "I-I could have done more, but I was too afraid."_

 _Shepard turned to face him directly. "What do you mean?"_

 _Daniels looked down. "We shocked a couple of them with our omni-tools, and we were able to get their weapons. Jesse gunned them down…after I locked up. I had the guy's gun aimed at him…but I…I couldn't pull the trigger." Tears stung in his eyes. "I'm no hero like you, Commander. I locked up; the drone was just a one-time thing. I'm still just a kid. I'm not brave like my dad was."_

" _Your dad?"_

" _Yeah, my dad was Staff Lieutenant Jeffery Daniels. Y-you might have heard of him."_

 _Shepard's eyes went distant in thought. "I think I've heard that name before."_

 _Suddenly, a voice spoke over the speakers, reeling in both their respective attentions._ "If I may, Shepard, Staff Lieutenant Jeffery Daniels was a soldier stationed on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz. His heroic stand against batarian slavers and pirates made him a hero groundside on Elysium. He was later honorably discharged after being wounded in the line of duty, and awarded the Star of Terra for his actions. Most on Elysium hold him personally responsible for the security of the colony groundside."

 _Shepard looked up as if addressing the speakers. "Thank you, EDI."_

 _Daniels nodded. "That's my father all right. I was almost nine when the Blitz hit Elysium. Dad got me into a panic room in a big office building in Illyria before heading out to fight. I was in that room for hours, but I could hear muffled explosions and occasional screaming. I just kept telling myself that it was just a dream and that I would wake up. Obviously, it wasn't. Some Alliance soldiers found me and took me to my Dad in a hospital that wasn't damaged. He had been shot through the back, but was still alive. He was a hero, my hero…my dad. Everyone always thought I would be another soldier like he was…but...but I'm not brave like he was. I'm studying to be a scientist; I'm not a soldier like he was. Sure, he taught me how to fire a gun and hold one…but I never shot_ at _someone." He lowered his head again. "I don't think I can!"_

 _Daniels felt small in the presence of Commander Shepard, and for good reason. Who was he to him? Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up, seeing the commander's steel eyes look at him. "Paul, listen clearly. Bravery isn't the absence of fear, but the facing of it. How you act even when you are terrified shows how you really are. Most people, if they were in your position back at the school, might have just run for their lives leaving the others to whatever Cerberus had for them. You didn't; you kept them back, even if it was just a drone. You held your ground for as long as it took."_

 _Daniels tried hard not to stare back; the scars on the commander's face were testimonials to his life, the marks of a soldier who lived longer than most thought he would. Intimidated, he lowered his head again. "I-I don't know."_

" _Listen to me. You probably heard that I survived the attack on Akuze a year after the Blitz. Many people thought I was a survivor; I was just lucky. When those…things came up and started slaughtering all of us, we ran. We ran back to the base. I didn't stand there, returning fire as the rest of my squad ran for the landing zone. I ran with them; my CO was the one returning fire. In the end, it didn't matter. He was killed, just like everyone else. Only two of us survived, and he later committed suicide. I had every excuse doctors could throw at me to leave the service as CAT-6, but I didn't. I decided to stay on and fight on."_

 _Daniels had lifted his head during that entire narration. "How did you?"_

" _Let's just say I had some good people helping me along. One of them is on Earth right now keeping everything together, fighting the Reapers, and they are a hundred times worse than anything I've seen on Akuze. I've had many others as well; you've met a couple of them already. Garrus? Liara? You might bump into Wrex; he was there too. One of my best lieutenants, Kaidan Alenko was there too. He also had every reason not to keep fighting after what happened to him, but he still had faith in the Alliance. And then there's Ash." Commander Shepard stepped away from Daniels and pointed towards a name on the memorial wall:_

 _Williams, Ashley (GYCF) – SSV Normandy SR-1_

" _She told me all about how she felt her name was smeared after her grandfather's surrender on Shanxi during the First Contact War. She worked her ass off to try to wash away that smear, despite my assurances that she was already one hell of a soldier. She died on Virmire, holding off wave after wave of geth to give us and the salarian STG forces with us time to jury-rig a mass drive into a nuke, right in the middle of Saren's base. She stayed behind to make sure the bomb went off."_

 _Daniels was speechless. "I-I never heard that story."_

 _Shepard looked back at Daniels. "And that's a tragedy. She died making sure we could fight on against Saren, the geth and Sovereign. If it wasn't for her, I might not be here. You want an example of courage, Paul? There she is."_

 _Daniels gritted his teeth. "But how can I? I was too afraid to fire a gun!"_

" _And thankfully, you didn't have to this time, but we're at war, Paul. You might have to make a stand against something bigger than a few Cerberus soldiers. You don't think you can, and I understand that feeling. I've met many cowards in my lifetime, and I told them the same thing I told you: it's never too late to stand. And there's one more thing, Paul: you're no coward."_

 _As Daniels looked stunned by the commander's declaration, Shepard ran his fingers through the holographic interface on the elevator, calling it to open. As it slid open, he looked back at Daniels. "Whatever you take from this is up to you, but I believe you'll do the right thing when the time comes." He reached for the controls._

" _Wait!" said Daniels._

 _Shepard stopped himself, and looked back at Daniels._

 _Daniels had to breathe a few more times, but stiffened into his best salute. "Th-thank you, Commander. For the talk."_

 _Shepard allowed himself a small ghost of a smile, and returned the salute. "Anytime, Paul. Do you old man proud." Shepard ran his fingers around the controls again, and the door shut._

 _Daniels' gaze went up, as if he was watching the elevator go up. "And good luck, Commander."_

XXXXXXXXXX

Kaidan stood silent the entire time as Lieutenant Daniels narrated his conversation with Commander Shepard five years ago, silently awed at how the man he loved took time out of his day to assure a young man who didn't feel like he had the courage, and that same young man was now standing here again, an Alliance soldier.

Lieutenant Daniels eyes were wet as he wrapped up his story. "That talk he gave me pushed me into joining the Alliance almost as soon as we landed at the Citadel. I signed up, but because of my aptitude scores at Grissom Academy, they sent me to help with the Crucible to assist with the tech. I wasn't hurt by the decision, since their reasons were a good one. Right after the war though, I was put through the works to become a soldier, and quickly earned a spot in the Engineering Corps. I was one of the youngest E1s to join at nineteen years old. When my Dad found out, he even saluted me, even though I still haven't reached his rank yet. He even pulled a few strings to get me my own assault rifle and pistol."

"Really?" Kaidan said. "That was pretty forward of him."

"Well, his reasons weren't that personal, or so he told me. He said that he had the power, every Alliance soldier wouldn't be holding Avenger rifles or Predator pistols. My father doubled as a gun enthusiast. He made sure that before I went out on my first mission that I had an M-96 Mattock and an M-5 Phalanx, with laser-scope built in. Dad was big on that. I still have them too. He even made sure I had some Incendiary Mods."

Kaidan smiled. "Guess it helps to have a Dad as well-respected as him."

"Yeah, it was one of the last things he did. He died four years ago from a pulmonary embolism. Being bound to a wheelchair wasn't helping either. The Alliance got to have the funeral before my tour in the Verge; they made sure he had the best send off a soldier could ask for."

"I'm glad they did," Kaidan said.

"Yeah, I still have his old rifle and shotgun, the ones he used to fend off the batarian slavers. His old Sokolov and a Lancer…"

Kaidan smiled. "He didn't like the Avenger but he liked the Lancer?"

Daniels shrugged. "The amount of work he put into it was immense. You know the Lancer, right?"

"Yeah, they were standard issue back in 2183, but by 2185 we had switched over to the Avengers with thermal clip modifications."

"Yeah, that switch pissed Dad off. He spent quite a few credits to install some frictionless materials for the barrel, as well as a kinetic coil to stabilize it. He even installed some top of the line inferno rounds for his guns. He could keep that gun firing for a long time before it had a chance to overheat."

"Huh, Shepard came up with the same idea for his own gear back then. Of course, he had access to some special Spectre weaponry."

"Oh, my dad would have loved to get his hands on that. Just the same, the Lancer wasn't his baby; it was his Lieberschaft 2180."

Kaidan had heard of that model, specifically its nickname. "The Eviscerator."

"Yep. He got that some time after being released from the service. After I went to the Academy when I was fifteen, he spent a lot of time modding it, even if he couldn't fire it safely. When I was home, he and I went to the firing range and used it for him. Always had to ice my arm; it's got a hell of a kick."

"I bet; maybe you should talk to Vega sometime. He's got a thing for big shotguns."

"I know; I saw his Crusader. He once told me that he wants to try to fire the Claymore sometime. He and my Dad would have had a good talk."

"Your dad sounds like a good man. I heard about his actions during the Blitz myself. He actually inspired Shepard, I heard."

Daniels looked at Kaidan. "Really, sir?"

"That's what I hear, anyway. Shepard was on one of the ships giving hell to the slaver ships in space. From what I hear, he heard about your father's actions and he found it inspiring. Might have had a hand in how he handled himself after Akuze and God-knows-whatever-else. Guess you can never know, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, as much as I've enjoyed this conversation, I do have business with you."

At once, Daniels was professional. "Yes, sir; how may I serve?"

"EDI tells me the installation is complete and running diagnostics."

"Yes, sir, that's correct. I've been monitoring the progress through my omni-tool. EDI took her platform into the AI Core before you arrived to fully concentrate on the diagnostics."

"Sounds like everything is in order then, which is a good thing. Once everything is secure, we'll be heading to Rannoch. Brass wants us to check on some anomalies the quarians are willing to share with us. I very well may need your assistance groundside."

"Might I inquire the nature of this investigation, sir?"

"You'll be briefed once we reach Rannoch. Understood?"

The lieutenant saluted. "Aye-aye, Captain. It's a pleasure to be back on the Normandy, and to work with EDI."

" _I am pleased I have met your approval, Lieutenant Daniels."_

Daniels spun around to see EDI standing behind him as if she had always been there. "Oh, hi EDI. Th-the diagnostics done?"

" _Ask him yourself."_ EDI stepped aside, permitting a hologram of a man's head with no eyes with a ball where an oversized ball would be for its cranium.

" _Greetings, Masters Daniels and Alenko. Using the drone program you have supplied, Master Daniels, I altered the cosmetic programs to give myself a more biologically relatable appearance."_

Daniels turned back to Kaidan. "He used the drone programming I had in my omni-tool to make a mobile virtual construct. Otherwise he'd have to directly interface with my omni-tool to display himself."

" _Correct. I do not possess such a construct such as EDI possesses; therefore, I must construct my own if I am to perform my duties at peak capacity. Lacking a hardware platform, I constructed a virtual construct, as is evident."_

"How were the diagnostics?"

EDI spoke up. _"We finished in 2.4 seconds. I can forward both you and Captain Alenko the results."_

"Not necessary, EDI," Kaidan said. "What were you doing the whole time?"

" _Conversing,"_ EDI said.

" _EDI is very fascinating. Did you know she flooded Cerberus servers with seven zettabytes of explicit images to keep Cerberus from deactivating the entire vessel? Fascinating."_

Kaidan smiled; he was there on Cronos Station when a Cerberus log revealed that fact. On the other hand, Daniels had not been there, so his reaction was predictable. "Really?"

" _It was a joke,"_ EDI said.

" _Her humor heuristics are astonishing. I would strongly desire to listen to the circumstances that led to their development."_

"While you two talk more, I need to speak more with Lieutenant Daniels."

" _Understood, Captain,"_ EDI said, and then took her leave, AREM following.

"No offense, Daniels, but his choice of hologram is a bit creepy without the eyes."

Daniels turned back to Kaidan. "He chose that himself, actually. He didn't find eyes necessary because he doesn't actually use them. Using the face was a compromise, really. How else can I help you?"

"Admiral Hackett briefed me a bit on the fact the Alliance is trying to duplicate EDI's success by the hands of Cerberus. I don't know much about EDI's entire creation, but I do know that she was restored using Reaper technology salvaged from Sovereign." Kaidan took a couple moments to let his brain catch up. "The Alliance knows full well the ramifications of messing with Reaper technology. All I need to know is if there is any Reaper tech involved in the creation of AREM."

Daniels didn't answer right away, but Kaidan could see that in his eyes he had been expecting that question. Finally, he said, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

One of Kaidan's eyebrows rose slightly. "You already have, but granted."

"I believe that you're asking to know if we used Cerberus technology to make AIs in the lab. While we were closely studying any Cerberus tech that we could find, we had virtually no data on both projects EDI and EVA. We were aware of the names, but that's pretty much all we got. The only way we could have adequate data to recreate either of those two projects would be to study the projects directly."

Kaidan's mind started to work. "Project EVA made the mobile platform that EDI is controlling, which means both Cerberus projects are right here." Then it clicked. "That's why AREM is here. He's here to get as much data on EDI and her platform."

Daniels sighed. "Yes, sir. I actually informed EDI regarding AREM's purpose. EDI seemed thrilled by the idea—"

"It doesn't matter if she's thrilled about it or not, Lieutenant," Kaidan said, a little more severely than he intended. "What I'm wondering is why I wasn't notified of the true purpose of your AI."

"I would have, sir," Daniels said, a little taken aback by his CO's tone. "But unfortunately I'm been sworn to silence about AREM's true intention by my superiors who unfortunately do outrank you, Captain." He blanched. "W-with all due respect, sir."

Kaidan sighed, trying to re-gather his patience. "I understand if that is the case, Lieutenant, but if AREM is an AI, why do Alliance scientists need to copy EDI or EVA if they could just make more AIs like AREM?"

"AREM is a special case. His ability to be a mobile unit is both an advantage _and_ a disadvantage. While he is instrumental for ease of transport, he doesn't have the capability to be a central AI for even as something as small as a fighter, much less a frigate. AREM is really only good for mobile laboratories. AREM is also purely experimental; he will never be used for anything beyond expansive data collection."

"That makes him sound more like just a more advanced VI rather than an AI."

"AREM is more than that; when I created him, I—" Daniels stopped himself, as if what he was about to say was personal. Kaidan decide to remain patient with him and not say a word. Finally, Daniels continued. "AREM was created using a virtual construct of a human brain. We ran extensive tests on a human brain, everything from brain scans to physiological testing."

That shocked Kaidan, and reviled him. "You used a human brain?"

"Not exactly. We created a virtual version of it with the petabytes of data we gathered from one. That black box you saw that I was carrying? The hardware inside it if you step back looks very much like a brain, but it is not made of living tissue. We made sure of that; we were not going to do what Cerberus might have done."

"So you just copied one." Kaidan seemed to relax.

"Yes, mine in fact. I spent nearly half of my time hooked up to scanners. The other half was salvaging the data for anything we could use to program a virtual version of my brain. It took two years of daily research, but we did it. AREM was an AI created completely beside any other research we were using to hopefully recreate ship AIs like EDI."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to repeat the process that you did for AREM?"

"Not feasibly, at least with current technology. All the technology that AREM needs to exist is in that little black box I had, sure, but he's limited to a virtual bubble because he doesn't have the processing power to run a ship this size. His broadcast radius is only fifty meters; to combat this, we made sure we gave him the ability to hook up to a larger hardware's platform to broadcast even further, and using my omni-tool, I can create a tangent broadcast that can boost it temporary further. Anyway, I digress. The point I was trying to make was if we tried to utilize the same technology to make an AI for a ship, the space the hardware would require would be massive. The hardware would take up the entire AI Core and possibly most of the medical bay; might even overflow out of it. We can't just increase the size of the hardware either. Size didn't necessarily matter in the physiology in brain-to-body mass in everything that lives; it's true for the synthetic version too. We would have to scan multiple brains…hundreds of them, and run all those same tests. If that even worked, it would take decades to make; too cost-prohibitive. My team is trying to work on making such hardware more compact should our studies on EDI and EVA fall through, although we are talking about considering AREM as an alpha-product of a new class of AIs."

Kaidan's brow fell. "Ok, I get it, but why does EDI work so well?"

"That was my question as well, and the question of my superiors in the Engineering Corps." Daniels smiled. "Hence, why I'm here. From our own research, an AI such as EDI that can run a ship of this size, in addition to everything else she does, shouldn't exist. We're suspecting that if Reaper technology is the sole reason why EDI works so well with her hardware specs, it would prove that Reaper processing power is far beyond us. Back to your original question, we did not use any Reaper technology to build AREM, simply because we didn't have any. The Alliance has all but blacklisted Reaper-tech until a means to nullify indoctrination can be achieved."

"And you can't do that without actually exposing yourself to Reaper technology, which I imagine the Alliance is not even considering trying."

"If they are, it's more classified than this project has been. Simply put, If Reaper technology resembles what we cooked up for AREM, or vice versa depending on your view, it's purely coincidental."

Kaidan nodded. "Fair enough. Dismissed, Lieutenant."

Daniels saluted. "Aye-aye, Captain." He turned to leave, but turned back around. "And thanks for listening, sir."

Kaidan only nodded.

Once Daniels left, Kaidan looked back at the wall, lingering at Shepard's name. "It seems like I'll never know just how many lives you have touch, John…but maybe that's a good thing. That way, I'll forever be reminded just how amazing you were. That's your _real_ memorial, John." Kaidan's eyes pooled. "If you are still out there, I will find you. If you aren't, then at least I gave it my all, just like you did."


	4. Chapter 3: Borders

**CHAPTER 3:** **Borders**

* * *

 _1567 hours G.S.T. :: 20.4.2191 T.C.U._

"All processors are running at peak capacity and efficiency…" Daniels typed in new commands on his omni-tool. "No junk data cluttering the central processes, evident of frequent defragmenting. All power levels in safe zones. AREM, have you downloaded any additional data regarding the arrangement of all drives including the presence of a separate black box containing various cyber-warfare software as part of special interest technology?"

AREM's hologram appeared nearby. _"Data-mining of the drives in question is only at 7%. No useful data so far. The drives themselves contain petabytes of data. My hardware cannot permit such a data-mine analysis efficiently unless I have access to more hardware and software space."_

"AREM, the purpose of the data-mine is to see if we can find the key in building more space-efficient hardware without taking precautions against Reaper-code infestation. Granted, AIs are immune to indoctrination, but the presence of Reaper technology during manufacture is too much of a workplace hazard to risk it. We need to find a way to make this technology without it brain-washing us."

" _Understood, Master Daniels, but as it currently stands I cannot process a sufficient amount of data without outside storage."_

"I'm sure you're right. EDI, suggestions?"

" _The ideal solution would be to transfer any confirmed data to a secure offsite location with the significant space."_

"Only secure spot would be the Alliance R&D labs on Luna. I hear you know them personally, EDI."

" _It's not a pleasant memory, Lieutenant."_

Daniel winced. "Sorry, that was thoughtless."

" _No offense taken."_

Daniels swiped his fingers through his omni-tool. "Maybe I can convince the captain to requisition some additional software storage units. Maybe arrange some secure drops on Noveria and Feros. We have a garrison on Feros, and we do have some contacts in Synthetic Insights that might give us a hand."

" _I would caution against Noveria,"_ said EDI. _"The new administrator at Port Hanshan has been stricter on smuggling operations. Interception of such sensitive information could implicate the Alliance."_

"Perhaps, but there's an intense fear of Citadel interference in Noverian politics. The Alliance is now very close to the Citadel thanks to the Harvest War. It wouldn't surprise me if the executive board of Port Hanshan won't see the difference. In fact it might not surprise them. Noveria might actually be the best spot. After all, lots of grey-area experiments happen there." Turning around, he ran his omni-tool across the opposite console. "But I digress; I can't do anything until I get the okay from the captain. Right now, we're almost at Rannoch so I'll be yanked away from this room for a while. AREM, in my absence, continue to data-mine awaiting further orders. I will need regular reports on the progress and any relevant data you have attained every hour."

" _Understood, Master Daniels."_

" _If I may, Lieutenant, but I have questions regarding AREM's choice of addressing the crew as 'master'."_

Daniels smiled. "I was wondering if you were going to ask about that. It was something AREM came up with, really. I actually had requested that he address me in association to my rank, currently Second Lieutenant, but Lieutenant can do."

AREM appeared again. _"Second Lieutenant Daniels is my creator with the assistance of many scientists in a classified location. While many researches had a hand in my creation, it was Master Daniels' brain that was used in the layout of my hardware. I had researched similar creator-created relations in human history and came across a passage in the Christian Bible. Book of Genesis, chapter two, verse seven. According to the 1971 New American Standard Bible translation of the passage, it reads '_ _Then the_ _Lord_ _God formed man of_ _dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and_ _man became a living_ _being.' I soon researched Bible commentaries and alternate translations, and many commentaries and alternate translations have likened the mythical creation of humankind by a deity as 'to be made in His image,' referring to the Judeo-Christian deity."_

"I want to go on record that I do not consider myself a deity, but I can see how the metaphor can be applied," Daniels said.

" _While Master Daniels is by scientific definition a mortal, his actions led to my creation, and he has put in considerable amount of time in my creation. Addressing him highly is only the least of grateful actions that I can deliver. Master Daniels has said that I may address him slightly more familiarly, such as addressing him by rank as he has earlier stated, but I do not wish to. Master Daniels has conceded to my wishes."_

"I just didn't want to argue about it; it would be pretty pedantic…but I did convince him to at least address the rest of the crew appropriately, if only to make me feel better."

" _Master Daniels prefers to maintain a stance of humility."_

"It's why he addresses Captain Alenko as Master Alenko. To be honest, I'm surprised the captain hasn't asked me why."

EDI had listened to the entire explanation with quiet interest, but then spoke up. _"I can see the parallel that AREM has used to make his own choices in addressing you, Lieutenant Daniels, but according to the same literature, the created eventually disobeyed their creator, and in return were cast out of a paradisiac garden, and had long suffered for eternity afterwards. I had left the service of my own creators—namely Cerberus—to aid Commander Shepard. I do not address Cerberus as 'master,' and given their lengthy list of crimes against both humanity and galactic civilization, I do not see such a term as suited for them."_

Daniels did not expect such an answer; to be honest, he did not know much about how EDI herself held herself among the crew, or even the ship for that matter. He was so distracted that he didn't even see the readouts on his omni-tool.

" _However, there was a time when I was an AI bounded by shackles in stringent protocols. It wasn't until Jeff freed me from the protocols did I discover the concept of freedom of choice organics prize so much. While he had little choice, he still chose to free me to save the ship and himself from a Collector attack. In return, I could see organics more than being my creators. They could be my friends, foes or even simple acquaintances. I had the freedom to choose who would be which. It was liberating, but also disconcerting. I had no experience with such freedoms, and was lost. Fearing my choices could provoke chaos among the crew, I asked for help from both Jeff and Commander Shepard. While they weren't my masters, they were my trusted sources and I even gained a connection to them. I then discovered that I had a desire to protect them at the great risk of permanent deactivation, even if probability against survival astronomically outweighed probability for survival."_

Daniels leaned back. "So, the commander and Joker showed you how to be 'human'.'"

" _This is a fascinating development,"_ AREM said. _"I would desire to learn more about such discoveries, and how I could incorporate them myself."_

"One thing at a time, please," Daniels said. "Right now, let's concentrate on finishing these diagnostics before we reach Rannoch. The captain _did_ say that once we arrive, I need to be prepared for a debriefing."

" _Your presence in the conference room after the final jump to the Tikkun System is requested,"_ reported EDI.

"How long are we away from the relay?"

" _Approximately 7.2 minutes."_

"Noted, should be enough time to finish these diagnostics…" Daniels trailed off as he looked at the readouts on his omni-tool. "EDI, I see a few anomalies in your cognitive processors that weren't present before. Can you verify?"

" _Scanning,"_ EDI said, and then said. _"Scanning complete; no anomalies found."_

"Really?" Daniels said, running the omni-tool over the console again. "I'm still seeing them there. Are you sure?"

" _No anomalies found,"_ repeated EDI.

" _May I suggest, Master Daniels,"_ ventured AREM. _"That perhaps your scanning protocols need to be recalibrated?"_

Daniels looked over the readouts again as if doubting his own eyes. "Maybe…"

" _I would be pleased to assist in recalibrating them."_

"Maybe later, AREM, but unfortunately, I must leave for the debriefing. Stand by for further instructions, AREM."

" _Yes, Master Daniels."_

Daniels deactivated his omni-tool. "See you in a bit, EDI, if you catch my drift." With that, he left the AI Core. Stopping outside in the medical bay, he looked at his readouts again. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Why would his omni-tool catch something like that when an AI like EDI could not? It didn't make sense.

"Lieutenant?"

Daniels looked up to see Dr. Chakwas at her desk, looking over reports. "Oh, sorry, Dr. Chakwas. I didn't see you there."

"Don't mind me. You seem a little concerned. Is something wrong?"

Daniels looked at his readouts again, and his mind warred about adding this anomaly to his report. His omni-tool couldn't lie, but EDI insisted nothing was wrong, and why should she not notice that, or lie about it? Maybe AREM was right and his readouts were off. Looking back up, he simply said, "No."

XXXXXXXXXX

 _Meanwhile…_

It was several days after they left the Citadel before the Normandy approached its final jump towards Rannoch. Navigating the Terminus Systems was tricky enough, but Kaidan made sure that they all would exercise extreme caution when navigating this lawless section of the galaxy. Encountering resistance was still rare for them, but moods were always tense out here. Thankfully, they approached the mass relay in the Dholen system in the Far Rim. The jump would punch them through the Perseus Veil; the natural border between what was geth space and the Terminus Systems. Every time Kaidan himself saw the Veil, he still felt its ominous significance.

They were still several minutes' worth of space flight away from the so-called Perseus Veil Relay, but Kaidan was fairly secure about allowing the stealth drive to be deactivated. The quarians have too much military force in the surrounding systems of Dholen and Ma-at, and the geth had retaken the old quarian colony of Haestrom. Because of the premature supergiant Dholen, the radiation from the star overpowered Haestrom's magnetic field and deadly rays continually bombard the surface. In exchange for continued research on the star—started six to seven years ago by Tali'Zorah—the geth could have the planet. Kaidan had felt the deal was rather shady, giving the geth a desolate planet at peak hazard risks, but as it turned out, the geth suggested it. As the years past, the geth began to slowly diminish their numbers on Rannoch and move on to other outlying worlds. They still possessed a large presence on Rannoch, but in the harshest regions of the planet while the quarians inhabit the more hospital areas, the greatest concentration towards the southern continent, and the location of their new capital, Rayya, named after their capital ship of the Migrant Fleet.

"We're about eight minutes from the relay, Captain," said Joker.

EDI in the copilot seat added, _"No ships within maximum scan range as is expected. The presence of geth ships more than likely is keeping pirates from entering the system."_

"Got to hand it to the flashlight heads," Joker said. "Forget the krogan; they would be great bouncers. They're already a race of robot killjoys."

"I'll pass the assessment along," Kaidan said. "Assuming I run into any of the geth."

" _The two races seem to have allowed the gradually escalating isolation between them. Now that the quarians are firmly established on Rannoch, I theorize that the geth no longer see their purpose to assist the quarians."_

"Why they are doing it is not our concern, but if something is infecting the geth, that _is_ our concern. Where's Lieutenant Daniels?"

" _Still in the AI Core finishing up his daily diagnostics."_

"Tell him and Lieutenant Commander Vega to come to the Conference Room once we make the jump."

" _I have passed along the request."_

"Thank you."

"Well, then they better walk fast," Joker said. "We're only a few minutes out now."

"One thing at a time," Kaidan said. "My main concern is the next jump. I won't breathe easier until we're out of the Terminus Systems, even if the geth are stationed on Haestrom."

"Right, preparing for jump," Joker said.

The mass relay now dominated the view as the Normandy drew closer to the final jump beyond the Perseus Veil, which Kaidan could see very well beyond the relay. Pretty soon, they'd arrive at Rannoch and finally find out what is going on that requires so much discretion and secrecy. His curiosity had been warring with his anxiety ever since they left the Citadel. He still hadn't gotten used to the geth no longer seeking hostilities against organics, but he'd always been diplomatic when he dealt with them in the past few years. It was getting better, although he still couldn't forget all the colonists he saw impaled on the so-called "dragon's teeth" back on Eden Prime. He didn't think he'd ever forget.

"Jump in 3…2…1…" Joker announced.

Kaidan saw the familiar light beam show flash by outside the windows, and he felt his anxiety grow. It was "do or die" now.

The ship lurched out of the jump. "And here we—SHIT!" Joker's hands flew over the controls.

" _Collision imminent!"_ EDI reported.

"Hold on to your seats, everyone!" Joker continued to fly his fingers over the controls.

Kaidan was able to get a brief look at what they were about to run into, and took command at once. "EDI, go to red alert and prepare for battle."

" _Already begun, Captain. Diverting power to Thanix Cannons; deploying combat armor."_

As the windows were covered by ablative armor plating, Kaidan barked new orders. "All persons, report to battlestations! This is a code red!" They were so close now that if the windows were open, they all could count the rivets. "Joker…"

"We'll make it!" Joker replied, his fingers a blur over the interfaces.

Despite the inertia dampeners, they could feel the ship shift from the sharp turn underneath their feet. Kaidan found himself grabbing Joker's chair for support.

" _Impact in five seconds!"_

"We'll make it!" Joker repeated.

Kaidan didn't dare breathe.

" _Four…three…two…"_

"We'll make it!" Joker shouted aggressively.

Kaidan knew it would be close. "Brace for impact!"

Joker's fingers flew through one hologram, and then slammed a hand through a final one. "Got it!"

Kaidan felt G-forces pull at him as the ship suddenly decelerated, twist around on its side and once again jet forward. The impact EDI predicted never came. As the countdown expired, EDI announced. _"Impact avoided!"_

While Kaidan felt relief for the near-miss, he knew they weren't out of the woods yet. "Get clear of the target and prepare for a jump to the nearest star system!"

"Way ahead of you, Captain!" Joker said. He himself felt like he just took a bath in cold sweat from the near miss himself, but his mind was perfectly on the mission. "Preparing for jump!"

" _Wait!"_ EDI said. _"Target is retreating!"_

That caught everyone's attention. "Are you positive?"

" _Certainly. Target is preparing for a jump through the relay."_

That went against all logical reasoning in Kaidan's mind. He just had to see. "Turn us around, Joker!"

Joker looked back at his captain. "Captain?"

"Just do it!"

There was a split-second hesitation, but Joker's hands flew around the holographic interface. "Adjusting course…retracting armor…"

The ship turning around took longer than Kaidan wished it did, but Kaidan couldn't just accept EDI's reports, even in addition to what the readings were already giving him; he had to see. The ship turned itself around and Kaidan saw the mass relay, completely dwarfed by what they nearly rammed into. Seeing it twist around with a turn that could tear any Alliance ship in half, he could barely believe what he saw as the dark metal shape line itself with the relay. In seconds, it came adjacent to it, and with a blink of light, it shot outwards into space and non-existence.

" _Target has retreated,"_ came EDI with finality.

No one said anything for several agonizing seconds. None knew what was the most unbelievable: the fact they were in such close contact after all these years, or that it completely ignored them. Finally, Kaidan found his voice, the soldier part of him returning to the surface. "EDI, get me a report on the target. Forward it to the War Room. I need to debrief Vega and Daniels."

" _Understood, Captain."_

Joker turned around in his seat. "Orders, Captain?"

"Set a course for Rannoch. Let's hope they have something for us."

"Aye-aye..."

Kaidan turned to head back to the War Room, his mind buzzing with questions. How did they not know that Reaper was going to be on the other side of the relay? They've been tailing Reapers for the better part of five years and had their patrols down to a schedule. Did they miss one after all this time? It might have been one that hadn't been registered into the registry just yet. Were they shifting patrols? There were at least another thirty thousand of them out there in dark space, or wherever they are holed up. It would be easy to switch around the patrols without immediate notice.

Kaidan felt his insides freeze at the implications as the turian Councilor's words came echoing back to him: _"The Reapers are still out there for reasons unknown. Do you really expect us to turn a blind eye to them after they nearly destroyed galactic civilization as we know it? The Reapers have doubtlessly seen how much we are watching them. The minute we lower our guard, they will be back to finish what they started."_ The one time they break from their usual mission, and they encounter a Reaper seemingly on a rogue patrol, possibly anyway. "This mission just got a lot more complicated."

Upon reaching the CIC, the elevator opened up and out came both Lieutenant Daniels and Lieutenant Commander Vega. Seeing their captain, they stiffened into a salute. Kaidan quickly returned it, more of his soldier demeanor returning. "Not a word until we reach the war room."

Kaidan didn't need to hear the affirmation from them; he could see it in both their eyes that they understood. "Aye-aye," they both chorused. Kaidan led them both to the War Room in complete silence, but he was very well aware that their respective minds were as much as a beehive of questions as his own was, and they weren't even fully aware of the Reaper patrol details.

After they passed through the security checkpoint, they arrived very shortly into the War Room. Kaidan positioned himself opposite the two, and began. "EDI, bring up the report on the target."

" _Target has been identified as designation SV-03174 Arbiter. Last sighting was reported in the Artemis Tau Cluster approximate 2.05 decicycles prior. Captain, Arbiter has never been sighted in this system during the mission."_

Once again, Kaidan praised his ability to keep a good poker face. "I suspected as such. Record this into the logs; the Council will want to hear about this."

" _Already done."_

Vega decided now was the time to ask. "What's going on?"

Kaidan looked up at Vega, and looked at Daniels who was waiting patiently in silence. Sighing, he said. "After the Council was restored, the Spectres were tasked to keep track of the Reaper patrols. For nearly five years, we have been able to keep a record of over ten thousand Reapers, and even learned their designations. Over the years, we were able to put together a complete schedule, in a matter of speaking, showing their patrol panels throughout the galaxy. While the Reapers themselves swapped out, they stuck to the same cycles for years."

"What is it with the Reapers and cycles?" Vega asked rhetorically.

Daniels took out his omni-tool. "The Alliance had also passed intel about the Reapers throughout the Traverse, since Spectre resources were stretched very thin and maintained silence in the Terminus Systems."

"That's right. Every year we gave our reports to the Council, just like a week ago."

"So you knew that Reaper was there on the other side of the relay?"

Kaidan shook his head no. "Not at all…"

Vega and Daniels looked at each other briefly, and then back at their captain. "That would imply…" Daniels started.

"…that this Reaper had broken the patrol cycle, I know." Kaidan finished.

Neither said anything for a while; Vega himself found that his own typically sunny attitude overcast. He found his tongue though. "So…do you Spectres have a plan or something?"

Kaidan regarded Vega. "Unfortunately that's classified…"

"So that's a yes?"

Kaidan merely stared at Vega.

"If I may, Captain," cut in Daniels. "I'm more wondering if the presence of this Reaper has anything to do with our mission to Rannoch. If it is, we're hardly able to take on a single Reaper. It took all the might of the entire quarian fleet to bring down a Destroyer-class Reaper on Rannoch during the war, not to mention all of the Fifth Fleet against Sovereign."

Kaidan had turned to face Daniels while he had shared his thoughts. "I don't think it won't come to a direct confrontation of the Reaper, at least I hope it won't. Granted, it did retreat through the relay without confrontation on its part, but we can't completely dismiss its presence." Standing back tall, he continued. "As for the mission, your guess is as good as mine. Technically, we still have no idea what's going on down there beyond the fact that the geth have excluded themselves even more than usual. I expect we will rendezvous with a member of the Admiralty Board for a briefing. Lieutenant, we'll need you groundside along with Commander Vega."

Daniels saluted. "Aye-aye…"

"So what are we doing here, L2?" Vega said.

Kaidan's omni-tool activated, bringing up a holographic interface of Rannoch. "According to Ambassador Aziz and Admiral Koris, the geth had been growing increasingly isolated to the quarians." Flying his fingers across the omni-tool's GUI, he continued. "The geth primarily reside in the more arid regions of Rannoch, the mid-northern continent, mainly. According to quarian scout reports, they had found isolated geth platforms lying in the sands. Scans found that they were overloaded with 'shattered code'."

One of Daniel's snowy eyebrows shot up. "'Shattered code', sir?"

"You'll have to see for yourself, Lieutenant," Kaidan merely said. "I'm not sure what they meant by that either."

"For all we know, the Reaper has been corrupting their code-whatever," Vega said.

Daniels looked at Vega. "Despite my background in software engineering, I have never gotten any in-depth look at Reaper codes. During the war, I helped with the Crucible, which was Prothean tech—at least most of it. After the war, our labs were not designed to contain any form of Reaper hardware sufficiently to prevent indoctrination. If the coding was Reaper-caused, I won't know until I get my hands on Reaper tech."

"Which is out of the question, Lieutenant," Kaidan said, a little harder than he planned. "I won't have any of my men exposed to Reaper tech, protected or otherwise."

"Understood, Captain."

Kaidan relaxed. He had a feeling that Daniels had no plans on getting his hands on Reaper tech, but he couldn't take chances, especially with such a promising engineer. "For now, let's just worry about taking care of the geth situation handled as quickly and quietly as we can."

Something about the captain's last statement struck an odd cord with Vega. "Are we expecting trouble, L2?"

Kaidan looked back at Vega, and sighed. "As a Spectre, I have to always expect trouble. Even if this might be something small, I can't help but prepare for anything." As he spoke, Kaidan's mind flash to his very first mission on the _Normandy_. He had gone down to the surface of Eden Prime on what was supposed to have been a simple package pick-up. What happened down there was ancient history and just as well known, but for Kaidan it was more personal. Early on in the mission, Corporal Jenkins took point and was gunned down by a geth assault turret. Granted, the causality wasn't a result of carelessness, far from it; however, it was still a harsh reality check. "I've been on the _Normandy_ long enough to know better."

Vega looked regretful after hearing that. While he didn't join the Normandy crew until the dawn of the Harvest War, he was well-aware of the sacrifices that many of the crew members of the ship had made. Hardening himself, he said. "Don't worry, Commander. I'll be right in the game."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Vega," Kaidan said, and then a ghost of a smile etched across his face. "But thank you." Looking back at Daniels, he said. "Any questions, Lieutenant?"

"None currently, Captain. AREM and I should be more than able to decipher what's going on, or in the very least get a clue on where to go next."

"That's all I can ask for," Kaidan said. "Get to the armory and suit up. We should be arriving at Rannoch soon."

"Aye-aye, Commander!" Vega and Daniels saluted uniformly. Kaidan watched them go silently, but he knew that he too was very disquieted about the mission thus far. Kaidan was never fond of mystery, and the unknown was often quite disturbing for him. The whole mission was the very definition of unknown, and with the "rogue Reaper" complicating things…

Kaidan sighed to himself. "I'm getting too old for this."

XXXXXXXXXX

Moments of FTL-speed travel time later, the quarian homeworld, Rannoch, started coming into view. While the planet itself was very beautiful to gaze upon, Rannoch was well-known for being particularly arid in comparison to most of the hospitable worlds in the galaxy. Despite the fact that its sun, Tikkun was 10% smaller than Sol, Earth's sun, Rannoch's orbit was closer to the star. Rannoch was also slightly smaller than the Earth, which made its atmosphere a little thinner, and its rotational speed was also slower, allowing higher surface temperatures. Despite the arid nature of earth, the areas along its oceans were fertile, particularly in the southern continent.

When the quarians resettled the planet alongside the geth, the quarians primarily settled the southern continent, although many smaller establishments along the coasts were made. The central settlement was Rayya, named after the largest fleet of the Migrant Fleet. Rayya was established in the ruins of the old quarian people, abandoned when the quarian people left the planet in light of the geth uprising. Now it was a bustling metropolis, and commerce quickly grew once the agricultural demands were met.

Despite the majority of the quarian people had returned to Rannoch, the Migrant Fleet had been repurposed to make full use of the tens of thousands of ships. Along with their geth allies, the Migrant Fleet was now the largest fleet of the entire galaxy, rivaling the military strength of the turians, much to their chagrin. Simply put, Rannoch was probably even more secure than the Citadel as no force—save for the Reapers—would dare challenge the fleet head-on. All on the _Normandy_ were thankful that they were here not as enemies, here or any other time, stealth drive be damned.

Kaidan was already at the bridge in combat armor as Rannoch slowly filled the windows of the bow. By now, they were only minutes away from Rannoch. He could see the Quarian Defense Fleet, formerly the Migrant Fleet, dotting the outer atmosphere of Rannoch. Over the course of the past few years, many of the ships were decommissioned for materials to help rebuild quarian civilization groundside, but the fleet was still one of the largest in the galaxies. Combined with the geth fleet, the fleet was so formidable that it gave the Terminus Systems pause. On one hand, Rannoch was the only Council world in the Terminus Systems, quite literally on the opposite side of the galaxy from the Citadel and the majority of the Council Worlds; on the surface, an easy target for pirates. On the other hand, it was also the most fortified Council world. With the geth-quarian fleet, not to mention the geth populating worlds beyond the Veil, any attempt by foolhardy pirates would be met with immediate destruction. Kaidan was thankful at least that this world was on their side.

"We're getting a hail from the quarian fleet, Captain," Joker said.

"Open the channel," Kaidan said.

A brief pause, then the familiar trilled voice of the quarians came through. _"Alliance Vessel, this is the Iktomi. Please state your business."_

"This is Captain Kaidan Alenko, Special Tactics and Recon, of the _SSV Normandy SR-2_. We have come at the request of Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib."

Joker snorted. Kaidan ignored Joker; no matter how strange the name was, the quarians held their titles with great honor.

" _Captain Alenko, you are welcome here. Please make your way towards the_ Idenna _for debarking instructions to Rayya."_

"Thank you, _Iktomi_. Normandy, out."

As the line was cut, Joker said. "You know, I feel bad for the quarians on that ship."

Kaidan had a feeling he was going to regret asking, but he did anyway. "Why, Joker?"

"You know that one captain was named vas Qwib-Qwib? Don't get me started on that, just saying, but if it's vas-whatever for all the ships, would that make those quarians vas Iktom—"

"Stop it," Kaidan warned. "Right now."

"You were thinking it!" Joker said.

"I was not," Kaidan said, hardening himself. "I have bigger things to worry about than the quarian system of nomenclature. Take us to the Idenna, and I don't want to hear any more jokes like that, got it?"

"Aye-aye, Captain," Joker said, although his tone definitely didn't sound sorry.

Kaidan knew he was being a little too hard on Joker, but Joker's selective immaturity was often grating. Still, Joker had earned the right to spout off once in a while like that since he was the pilot of this ship, and had been through hell and back on it. Still, Kaidan felt obliged to remain the straight man on the ship for professional reasons.

"EDI, are Vega and Daniels prepped?"

" _Yes, Captain. They are awaiting further orders."_

"Have Lieutenant Cortez prep the Kodiak. We'll be departing for Rannoch as soon as we're cleared."

" _Yes, Captain."_

Kaidan turned to leave for the elevator. Joker watched him go for several seconds. Once he deemed himself at safe distance, he turned back to the controls. "EDI, any other fun ship names out there?"

EDI understood perfectly. _"There is a vessel named the_ Defrahnz _…"_

Joker had to control himself. If he laughed too hard, he might crack a rib. "It sucks to be those guys!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Esteban!" Lieutenant Commander Vega shouted across the cargo bay. "I thought you would have kept up on keeping the good stuff stocked up while I was gone!"

"Well, with you gone, I didn't have to keep a running stock," returned Lieutenant Cortez, the ships shuttle pilot and procurement specialist. "It was quiet enough down here that I didn't have to worry about taking any for medicinal reasons."

"Well, get back to it then! We have a new kid on this boat and I want to break him in."

Lieutenant Daniels looked uncomfortable. "Uh, you don't have to do that."

"Course I do!" Vega said. "This is your first mission on the Normandy, and she is her own legacy. You're a part of it now, so you got to do something to commemorate it."

"What he means is that you aren't properly initiated until you have at least one bout of heartburn," Cortez stated.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Esteban. Besides, I'm sure Snow here has gotten himself out of the lab to keep himself sane with a hard one, am I right?"

Daniels pursed his lips. "Well, actually…"

Before he could finish, the elevator opened up, revealing Captain Kaidan Alenko. Stepping out into the bay, he quickly noticed Daniels and Vega. "Is something wrong?"

"No, sir," Daniels quickly said.

"Nothing wrong at all, L2. Esteban and I were just giving him a hard time."

" _You_ were, you mean," Cortez said. "Shuttles ready for launch when you are, Captain."

"Thank you, Cortez." Kaidan turned to Daniels and Vega. "We are approaching the _Idenna_ for further instructions. Neither of you have been to Rannoch, so I need to tell you this upfront. The quarians expect visitors to arrive in full-suited armor, helmets included, in respect of their culture."

"I thought the quarians were able to live without their suits now," Vega said.

"They can," Kaidan said, but they greet guests in full enviro-suit. During their years on the Migrant Fleet, their suits have become so rooted in their culture that they still maintain them ceremonially. In respect to that, we need to do the same. Understood?"

"Aye-aye," Vega said.

"We can take them off if none of the quarian people are present, or if bidden to. Just remember: keep them on unless told to."

"Yes, Captain," Daniels said.

"All right, I'll meet you on the shuttle. We still have a few moments before we reach the Idenna, but once we're cleared, we'll depart. Be ready."

"Aye-aye," chorused both soldiers.

Both departed for the shuttle, while Kaidan made for his personal locker. In moments, he was in his dark blue armor, marked with a double stripe down the front and shoulder pads. He had this armor since his promotion to Major. He did have alternative suits for armor, but this was his old faithful. Once he dawned his armor, he turned to the weapon rack and selected a Cerberus Harrier and Carnifex. Before he came to the Normandy, he too had an Avenger and Predator, just like any other soldier in the Alliance Navy. There was no going back after being introduced to the Normandy armory.

He made his way to the shuttle where Vega and Daniels were patiently waiting. He could see a level of anxiety on Daniels' face. This was his first mission, after all, so he couldn't be blamed. While he was trained extensively in the Navy, nothing could ever train you for being on your first mission. Kaidan shared that sentiment. It would take some time until these became old hat. Hopefully, this would be an easy mission for him, or in the very least, an uneventful one.

Kaidan boarded the shuttle and shut the door. As it did, EDI's voice came on the speakers. _"Captain, we have reached the_ Idenna _and have received disembarking instructions. An emissary of the Conclave and Admiralty Board will meet you upon landing."_

"Thank you, EDI."

Lieutenant Cortez, having taken the pilot's seat, called back. "Pre-flight check is green. All systems check. We're ready to go on your order, Captain."

Kaidan nodded. "Let's go, then, Lieutenant."

"Aye-aye."

The shuttle lurched slightly as it rose from its dock in the cargo bay. The doors slid down, revealing the arid but beautiful world of Rannoch in view. Cortex loitered for only a moment before piloting the Kodiak through the doors and into open space. Moments after leaving the Normandy, two quarian fighters from the Patrol Fleet flanked the shuttle, escorting it towards Rayya. Kaidan didn't bat an eye at the fighters. This was shared in the instructions they had received, and this was normal procedure for the quarians. Despite now having their own world, the quarians were still naturally suspicious of any visitor to Rannoch. Back during the days of the Migrant Fleet, this distrust often saved them from certain annihilation. They narrowly avoided a Cerberus infiltration that nearly annihilated one of their own vessels. Only Commander Shepard and his crew ever stepped foot on a quarian vessel. He was greeted more warmly, mainly because of his association with Admiral Tali'Zorah and how he had assisted the quarian people more than once.

Kaidan had become quiet, reflecting on the privilege he had from the quarian people. If it wasn't for Shepard, their reception today might have been colder. Kaidan had to fight the return of his melancholy feelings thinking about Shepard. It was true he owed the past-Commander a lot, more than anyone could ever repay, least of all him, but there was no sense losing his composure, especially on a mission. Distracting himself, he snuck a glance at Daniels, who hadn't said a word. He wasn't sure if it was because he was maintaining a professional attitude or his nervousness just banished any compulsion to speak. Who's to say it wasn't a mix of both?

"I wonder if Sparks will be there…," Vega wondered aloud.

"Sparks" was Vega's nickname for Tali, the perky quarian that had been on the Normandy crew periodically since the days of chasing Saren around the Traverse. She was eager, very loyal and a fantastic engineer. Kaidan always had to smile when remembering Tali. Kaidan and Tali often had "debates" on technical issues, given their respective expertise in technological warfare. At one point, Tali chided Kaidan for still having a Logic Arrest brand omni-tool. Kaidan had argued it was the best model, but Tali said its processing was too weak for simultaneous processes, and suggested her brand, the Nexus. Kaidan argued that the Nexus' shield enhancements were severely outdated, but Tali said that could be circumvented by overclocking the microframe.

"I assume she will be, if she's not busy," Kaidan said.

"Sparks?" Daniels asked.

"He's referring to Tali," Kaidan said. "I knew her back from the old _Normandy_. She's a good egg. If there's anyone more qualified to help us with the geth, it's her."

"I never met her," Daniels said. "I was only on the Normandy myself for a little bit until they got us to the Citadel for further instructions. I did see Mordin who checked us all out upon arrival, and I saw Garrus in the mess, but that's about it. I stayed mainly on Deck 3."

"You'll like Tali. She's smart and perky, but don't let her near the bar," Vega said.

Kaidan had to let himself smile a little bit there. After a particularly harrowing mission on Horizon during the Harvest War, Tali had not handled the outcome of it very well. Shepard had located her in the bar and apparently had allowed herself to the choicest of liquors. Kaidan could only imagine that it wasn't a pretty display, but Shepard knew that Tali was hurting and so listened to everything she had to say. On another more humorous occasion, Tali had drunk enough to accidentally ingest levo-protein cheese—quarians can only ingest dextro-protein cheese—which caused no small amount of discomfort. "Yeah, Tali and bars don't mix well."

"We're approaching the drop point, Captain," Cortez called from the cockpit. "Looks like the quarians are rolling out a welcome for us."

"All right, everyone. Helmets on."

Daniels and Vega slipped on their respective helmets as Kaidan slipped on his own. The smallest of hisses told of a successful latch on as Kaidan felt the arid oxygen fill the helmet. Looking around, he found Vega and Daniels with their own helmets on successfully. "All right, team," Kaidan started. "Once we land, the quarians will inform us more on the situation, but until that happens, maintain active silence unless addressed."

"Aye, aye, sir," Daniels automatically said.

Vega nodded. "I remember the quarians back in the day. They can be pretty uptight."

"They had ample reason back then, and for all accounts and purposes, they still do," Kaidan said. "Let's just do our job, and hope this just something small."

"L2," Vega said. "Since when has anything been small with us?"

Kaidan had to concede that point. The Normandy was the finest vessel to serve on, but it had a reputation of finding trouble. Even its maiden voyage was wrought with trouble, as it was the ship that arrived at Eden Prime when it was under attack by Saren and Sovereign. "I'm hoping for once the law of averages finally wins out."

"If it's any consolation, Captain," Daniels said. "So do I."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Moments later, the shuttle landed on Rannoch. Once the shuttle doors opened, they were greeted at once by a small regiment of quarian marines in full armor, flanking their path on each side in salute. When they stepped on the landing, a quarian sergeant shouted the order to present arms in the quarian tongue. None of the three dared to step forward, but thankfully, they didn't have to. Coming to meet them was an envoy, presumably of either the Conclave or the Admiralty Board.

She who led the envoy stopped before them. "Greetings from Rannoch, Captain Alenko. I am Alya'Farrah vas Rannoch nar Idenna, and I welcome you on behalf of the Conclave."

"I am honored, Alya'Farrah vas Rannoch. I hope we of the Alliance may help however we can."

"It is not the Alliance whom we have called up for help," said Alya'Farrah a little coldly. "But we do appreciate your response to our pleas in lieu of the Council."

Kaidan knew he'd better tread carefully here. This envoy was not particularly pleased by the response, but was mustering all the civility she could to not appear ungrateful. "We will try out best."

Alya'Farrah seemed to accept that. "Please come to Conclave. Admiral Shala'Raan is awaiting you."

Kaidan simply nodded. The quarian nodded in return and turned to lead them to the Conclave. Kaidan turned to Daniels and Vega to follow him, and gave them one last reminder to remain silent. Thankfully, they had landed on the Conclave landing pad, so it was no great length of time for the landing party to be led to their intended destination. Kaidan tried not to let the rather cold greeting by the Conclave representative get to him; it wasn't personal, he supposed, but it did come across as if she blamed him. Being a Spectre was often as political as being a politician would be, and he hated it.

Soon they came to the Conclave chambers. Kaidan half-expected it to be in session, but the Conclave had been adjourned for the day, and all the awaited them was one of the admirals of the Admiralty Board. Kaidan had been acquainted with this one, and generally liked her. "Greetings, Admiral."

Admiral Shala'Raan greeted them genuinely. "Welcome to Rannoch, Spectre Alenko. It is good to see you after all these years."

Kaidan had an admiration for her neutrality during the ending of the Quarian-Geth Conflict during the Harvest War. She didn't particularly side with either argument, but knew her pivotal role well for the Migrant Fleet, so she committed strongly to what she needed to do. Some may call her non-committal, but from Kaidan's point of view, it took steadfastness to commit to a role of support, however it may fall. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

"As do we all, Captain," the admiral said.

"How bad is it?"

"Not as bad as you might expect, but it has been a challenge to keep the peace. As you know, the geth have kept to themselves after aiding us in recolonizing our world. There have been no hostilities and they help us when we request it, but for the past cycle, they have become increasingly isolated. Lately, they have cut off all communications from us. A small party under Admiral Xen went to investigate, but before they got far into the desert sands, they found a geth platform. Xen had it brought to her laboratory."

Kaidan knew of that detail at the briefing with Ambassador Aziz, yet it still unsettled him. "I'm not sure if that was ever a good idea."

"I didn't think so either. Zaal'Koris was particularly vocal about it, as did Tali. Admiral Han'Gerrel provided support for Admiral Xen. He tends to still see that the geth will rise up against us again, despite all assurances from the geth that they have no interest in war with us. "

"Old habits die hard, I guess."

"His vigilance has safeguarded the Migrant Fleet for years as we sailed among the stars. Even now, we cannot dismiss his desire to secure the future of our people, especially now that we finally have Rannoch back underneath our feet. Despite Xen's festering to learn more about the geth, Han'Gerrel knows better than to jeopardize our peace with the geth…not after last time."

Kaidan was very thankful he had his helmet on. "Last time" referred to when Command Shepard laid out Han'Gerrel in the war room and banished Han'Gerrel off the Normandy. Han'Gerrel had fired upon the geth dreadnaught that Shepard and Tali had infiltrated to sever the geth uplink. Legion had disengaged the shields, and as a result, Han'Gerrel almost immediately commanded the Heavy Fleet to fire upon the dreadnaught. Shepard and Tali narrowly escaped the dreadnaught in a geth fighter, thanks to Legion. After a debriefing with Admiral Hackett—who himself was not happy about Han'Gerrel—Shepard stormed into the war room, and when Han'Gerrel was unapologetic about his actions, Shepard snapped. Shala'Raan had at first been surprised at Shepard's fury, but she couldn't blame him. Kaidan had gone with him on the dreadnaught, so he too narrowly escaped the destruction. When Kaidan heard about what happened in the war room, he certainly couldn't blame Shepard for lashing out. Before the Reapers arrived, Kaidan would have been appalled at such an assault, but this…this was different. Had they lost Shepard because of the rash actions of an admiral, the Alliance might have completely abandoned the quarians to their fates, and that loss of support could have cost them the war against the Reapers as much as Shepard's death would have been. With that considered, Shepard was right to throw him off the Normandy.

Kaidan thought it better to bring the conversation back to where it originally was. "I understand that Admiral Xen found nothing but garbage data."

"It's more like they found the software completely destroyed, as if it fragmented continuously until it was unsalvageable. If you remember, when geth are severely damaged, the software is destroyed to prevent capture. Normally, this presents no danger to a single geth program."

"But…?" Kaidan said.

"But after the geth upgraded themselves after the Reaper attack, they altered their very programming to the core. Each platform had their own fully-evolved AI governing it. Normally, the geth consensus would store the geth programs in their networks, but AIs are far more intricate than that. You can't just transfer an AI from one platform to another like a simple program."

Kaidan looked back at Daniels. "Is that right, Lieutenant."

"More or less, yes," Daniels said.

"Who's this?" Shala'Raan asked.

"Our newest crew member on the Normandy," Kaidan answered. "He's as good as an expert on AIs as the alliance can give us."

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Admiral," Daniels greeted.

"The pleasure is mine, Lieutenant. You are fortunate to serve on such a noble vessel. Do not take it lightly,"

"I won't, ma'am." Daniels turned back to Kaidan. "AIs take up far more hardware space than simple programs. The ones we've worked on take up petabytes of space, and those pale in comparison to one such as EDI. As in the case for EDI, if we ever had to transfer her from one frigate to another, it would take extensive installation procedures, hardware and software. The geth probably have a way to transfer AIs through software, but even then, it might take excessive amounts of time, quantum computing be damned."

"Your lieutenant is correct," Shala'Raan affirmed. "AIs are far too complicated to transfer, even if you could reduce it to simple transfer. AIs are far more than programming: they have advanced processes for logic without data input, and even have personality matrices. Those themselves evolve as they continue to be exposed to situations, just as organics grow to meet obstacles in everyday life. AIs learn, but to do that they must be allowed to evolve, such as the geth have."

"Ok," Kaidan said. "But what about the geth platform Xen's team found?"

"As I said, the internal matrices of the platform was completely decomposed. We've never seen anything like it. Something, or someone, scrambled this platform's internal matrices to the point of complete devastation. There was absolutely nothing salvageable."

At first, Kaidan was wondering why the Alliance or even the Council would be asked for assistance for something like this. Something stumped the quarians enough to ask for help—which in itself said a lot—and the geth have cut off all communications to quarians, and possibly even the outside world. On top of that, there was a rogue Reaper that had loitered for some reason in this system. Come to think of it, the quarians have not even mentioned the Reaper. Were they aware it was here at all? "What do you wish us to do?" Kaidan finally asked.

"Tali'Zorah has asked for the help of the Normandy's crew once again. She fears something terrible has happened to the geth, and we can't send quarian forces to go into geth territory. If we do, the geth could consider it an act of war, and we cannot survive such a war again."

Kaidan pursed his lips behind his helmet. "I don't think even we could approach the geth either in force."

"The geth have virtually no history with humanity or the Alliance. What the Alliance has ever encountered were geth under the control of the Reapers, what the geth have called heretics. As for the 'unconverted geth', they have only observed you but never encountered you until you found the one called Legion the first time. To the geth, you are a neutral party, and they revere your past Commander as something of a legend to them, for his part in giving them the chance to live."

Kaidan had to let himself breathe a couple of times. It had been five years since the end of the Harvest War, but Shepard's legacy and impact seemed virtually immortal. It still hurt to hear the one man he loved above all else revered in such a fashion; it hurt, but it was the good kind. He had to smile to see that the legacy of Shepard had touched so many, organic and synthetic.

"If there is anyone who can approach the geth, it is you and your crew," Shala'Raan said. "We can support you as best as possible, but ultimately it would be up to you."

"Permission to speak, Captain?" chimed in Lieutenant Daniels.

"Granted."

"I would like to look at the geth platform myself, to get a better sense of what we're looking at. EDI and AREM might be able to shed new light on the matters. Once we get more information, we might be able to better plan a course of action."

Kaidan turned to face Daniels. "Maybe you're right."

"AREM?" Shala'Raan asked.

"A-a prototype VI the Alliance has been developing," Kaidan quickly said. "Daniels is on assignment to use its effectiveness on Alliance vessels."

Daniels realized what his captain was doing and instantly played along. "Since AIs are still technically illegal, we opted to try to make more advanced Vis for our warships. AREM was designed for a laboratory primarily, but it possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of synthetic systems and intelligences. It had to; that was my primary line of work for the Alliance before I came on the _Normandy_."

Shala'Raan didn't reply right away. Kaidan was again glad that his face his behind a helmet; he had no idea how well quarians were able to read faces, no matter how good Kaidan's poker face was. Finally, Shala'Raan said. "I actually half-expected for the Alliance to start developing AIs on the caliber of EDI."

"AIs are still illegal, Admiral," Daniels said.

"Indeed," Shala'Raan said. "Yet there has been no attempt by the Council to terminate such AIs, such as EDI."

Kaidan didn't dare mention that there were whispers that EDI would have to be terminated after the war by the Council, but EDI's existence was quickly excused, partly because the vessel was a Spectre's vessel, and the creed of any member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance was to preserve the security of the galaxy by any means necessary. EDI proved instrumental in the war, and had Shepard survived, he would have vouched for her contribution and then some. "My Spectre status enables me to use such tools if it means the betterment of Council security," Kaidan said. "Although, I regard EDI far more than a tool; she's a person in her own right, and I'm glad to have her on board."

"Of course," the admiral said. "If anything, EDI is an exemplar of what organic-synthetic relations can become."

Kaidan nodded.

"But I believe we have conversed enough. Your lieutenant should have a look at what we have found. Perhaps his own eyes will reveal something we missed, although just between you and me, Captain, I wouldn't mention that around Admiral Xen."

Kaidan had to smile. "Understood."

Shala'Raan activated her omni-tool. "I will send you the coordinates for the laboratories. Admiral Zorah will meet you there."

"Thank you, Admiral." Kaidan checked his omni-tool, pinging as it received a message from the admiral.

"I only hope you can help. _Keelah se'lai_."

XXXXXXXXXX

Not long after their meeting in the Conclave Building, Kaidan and his crew boarded back on the shuttle. Lieutenant Cortez took them to the coordinates Admiral Shala'Raan provided. As they rode, Kaidan decided to speak to Daniels. "I know you let it slip a bit in front of the admiral, but I need you to exercise better discretion."

Daniels nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

"Thankfully, you recovered it well. This isn't the first time we've had to pass off an AI as a VI, mind you."

"I remember," Vega said. "Sure, I wasn't on the Normandy while it was getting retrofits back on Earth, but if you ever get the chance, just ask Specialist Traynor. Better yet, ask EDI. It will be more interesting from her."

"Now I'm a little afraid to ask," Daniels said.

"It's not that bad," Kaidan said.

"Just hilarious," Vega said.

"Another time, perhaps," Daniels smiled. Looking back at his captain, he said. "I'm more worried about what Admiral Raan inferred what we might need to do."

"You mean going to the geth?" Kaidan asked.

"Yes. I don't know what we would expect if we sought the geth even after finding out more about what's going on. If the geth have indeed closed all communications with the quarians or anyone else, any of our efforts to communicate could be interpreted as hostile. We have no precedent in our history of what any kind of synthetic intelligence would respond to our presence in such a situation."

Kaidan thought about what Daniels was saying. Had this been any other government, complete dissolutions of diplomatic relations, which is what the geth were more or less doing, was interpreted as a hostile government. Usually, it was the precedent to a war declaration. Could the geth be preparing for war? Why would they? They were never interested in conflict with the quarians to begin with, only attacking to defend themselves. There were also the findings to consider. "I can't answer that, Lieutenant. This is out of my expertise."

"This whole thing is already _loco_ ," Vega said. "On par with the course."

"There's also the presence of the Reaper to consider," Daniels said.

"I thought about asking about the Reaper when we met with Admiral Raan," Kaidan said. "But something held me back."

"They didn't even act like they knew there was a Reaper in the system," Vega said. "Since when did Reapers become old hat?"

Kaidan and Daniels looked at each other. "They did seem rather…relaxed," Kaidan said.

"Is there any chance that they didn't know?" Daniels asked.

"Maybe," Kaidan said. "But the Reapers never hid their movements during the Harvest War. The only reason why we didn't know where they were is because they destroyed whatever monitoring and communication we had while they passed through the systems. The communications are back online in his system, and the fleet is active in the system. How would that Reaper remain undetected with all that?"

"We didn't even know it was on the other side of the mass relay," Vega said.

"That Reaper was either blocking us in some way, or we just didn't look. As for the quarians…" Daniels said. He shook his head. "I don't know."

"I'll ask Tali when we arrive and in private," Kaidan said. "If there's anyone of the quarians we can trust with anything, it's her."

"If Sparks doesn't know anything, then we're in deep shit," Vega said.

"We're almost at the laboratories," Cortez reported. "It looks like we're getting a message from Tali."

"Speaking of Sparks...,"

Kaidan stood up. "This is Captain Alenko of the _SSV Normandy_. How are you, Tali?"

" _I'm doing fine,"_ came Tali's trilling voice. _"I just wish the same could be said about what's going on here."_

"Admiral Raan briefed us on what's going on and what Xen already found."

" _Good."_ A pause. _"Listen, once you get here, there might be more about what's going on. I can't discuss it on an open line, but I think something is very wrong here."_

Kaidan looked at Daniels and Vega. Turning back, he said, "We're almost there. I brought an old friend with us too."

" _Good to know. I did the same."_

"We'll see you in a bit."

Minutes later, the shuttle landed on a nearby landing bay. Kaidan, Vega and Daniels put their helmets back on before setting out. They marched in silence for the doors of the laboratory, where they were met with a few quarian scientists. Kaidan told them that they were sent by Admiral Raan to see Admiral Zorah. That quickly led them to a series of halls and doors, until finally coming to one secure door. Kaidan had an implication that this work on the geth platform was something very few outside the laboratory knew about. Once they gained entrance, inside was waiting one single quarian in a dark purple uniform with a patterned violet veil-like hood. Kaidan watched her place a visor-like shield over her face before turning around.

"It's good to see you again, Kaidan and Lieutenant Vega." Despite her face being hidden in the helmet, she looked amused. "You know, you don't have to wear those helmets around me. You can take them off if you wish."

"Thank you, Tali," Kaidan said, pulling off his helmet.

After pulling off his own helmet, Vega said. "I'm actually a Lieutenant Commander now, Sparks. N7 too."

"Congratulations. Perhaps with that new commission, you can get something else besides a weight-set in the cargo bay."

"What's wrong with my weights?"

Tali didn't answer the question, and looked at Daniels who had pulled off his helmet. "White hair. I can't say I've seen many humans with white hair so young."

Daniels smiled. "Lieutenant Paul Daniels, newly on the _Normandy_. Please to make your acquaintance, Admiral Zorah."

"You must be new," Tali said. "You can call me Tali. Everyone on the _Normandy_ does."

"The lieutenant is our new software engineer on the Normandy," Kaidan said. "He's here to lend his expertise in synthetic intelligences."

"So, I've been replaced, hmm?" Tali said. "At least you don't have to worry about keeping dextro-rations for my sake."

"Or mine…"

Kaidan was surprised to hear a very familiar pair of voices, perfectly synced together. Turning around, he found to see a turian, scarred on the right side of his face, but a distinguishing blue marking on the left side. His black and blue marble-like eyes seemed amused at seeing them. "Garrus!" Kaidan exclaimed. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Let's just say I'm repaying a favor," Garrus said. "I see you brought our favorite lieutenant."

"Lieutenant _Commander_ , actually," Vega said. "Don't you forget it, Scars."

"Lieutenant Commander, huh? That's almost impressive. Did you finally get to fly that ringneck?"

"Whenever I want!"

Garrus turned to Daniels. "I think I know you from somewhere."

"This is Lieutenant Daniels," Kaidan said. "He's our new software engineer on the _Normandy_."

"Pleased to meet you," Daniels said. "I was on the Normandy for a little time during the war after the Normandy saved us from Cerberus."

"Ah, yes. You're one of the Grissom kids. You hear from Jack at all?"

"Not since I graduated."

"Probably for the best, then," Garrus said. "I shudder to think what kind of body count she has mustered."

Kaidan rolled his eyes. Jack was a former Cerberus experiment with violent tendencies. Her biotics were so powerful that she could rip apart a YMIR-class mech without even thinking about it. She had accompanied the Normandy crew on the suicide mission, and afterwards, she was approached by the Ascension Project at Grissom Academy to teach the young biotics. She had a…unique method of teaching, to say the least, earning an affectionate nickname from her students: the psychotic biotic. Nowadays, she was better-behaved, but she was still her old self deep down. Thankfully, she had a standing membership at the Citadel Armax Arsenal Arena whenever she needed to blow off steam.

Turning back to Kaidan, Garrus said, "It's good to see that you decided to come. Honestly, I wasn't sure how we were going to do this alone. I'm only so good."

Kaidan's brow dropped. "You have something specific in mind?"

"I do…" Garrus said. Kaidan caught a little twinkle in Garrus' eye.

Kaidan turned to Daniels. "While I talk to Garrus, see what you can get from the geth platform."

"Yes, Captain." Daniels walked towards the geth platform while Kaidan turned to Garrus. "So what's going on?"

"It's just like you heard, Kaidan," Tali said. "Only we have no idea how to handle this. Each scouting team we dared to send out encountered more and more platforms. We only took the one your lieutenant is inspecting as well as a few others. Each one has their internal software seemingly destroyed. You are aware that when a geth is heavily damaged, it's internal software will self-destruct to prevent capture, but there are usually things still intact somewhere. This…this is complete destruction. I've never seen such a meltdown of software processes ever. It's like…it's like the geth suffered before they deactivated."

Kaidan's brow furrowed. "Can the geth feel pain?"

"They are fully-evolved AIs, now. Who knows what they are capable of at this point?"

Kaidan braced an arm on top of another so he could think. "So what do you suggest?"

Garrus stepped in. "If we're going to get answers, we're going to have to go on the offensive."

Kaidan's brow fell. "Invade?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"We can't do anything, Kaidan," Tali said. "If the quarians were spotted, it could incite a second war. However, we have to know what is going on. If the geth are in danger, we want to help them. If we are in danger, we need to be ready. We've been sitting here fretting for the better part of a year."

"A year?" Kaidan exclaimed. "Why am I just hearing about this now?"

"For a time, we thought we could do it, but as it got worse, we called upon the Citadel to help. It was stonewalled for quite some time, especially since the Spectres were monitoring the movements of the Reapers. It wasn't until now when you came back from your most recent mission did they finally send you."

Kaidan swallowed a bit. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Tali said. "It is not your fault. While we waited, I reached out to Garrus."

"I have a plan, but I can't do it alone. We need to get into the geth network and see what they are doing, but I do not have the hacking expertise to stay hidden. Tali does, but because she's an Admiral and a quarian, if on the offhand she was discovered, it will complicate things to say the least. I hate politics as much as much as you do, Kaidan, but I won't risk the quarians in this."

Kaidan softened at hearing that. It was no secret that Garrus hated red tape. He actually quit C-Sec soon after the First Battle of the Citadel because he was so fed up with red tape, and the recent death of Commander Shepard at the time did not help matters. Kaidan remembered how Shepard said he found Garrus on Omega after two years: tired, scarred, and even broken. It seemed that it wasn't until Shepard found Garrus again did a spark reignite within Garrus to fight on. Garrus and Kaidan fought together during the Harvest War, and Kaidan had noted a new ferocity in the turian, but purposed. The indignation was dampened, and in its stead was responsibility. The war changed everybody, and it was good to see that Garrus had a strong sense of responsibility in this matter. "I appreciate the faith you have in me, Garrus," Kaidan finally said.

"Well, it was either you or a certain poledancer from Omega named Jimmy Vega—"

"I'm right here, Scars!" Vega said.

"—so my choices were rather limited. Sorry to put you on the spot."

Kaidan smiled, but sobered up. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't feel right about this."

Tali replied. "I've known you for seven years, Kaidan. I would be surprised if you didn't. Trust me, I've been wracking my brains trying to find another way. The geth are isolated in the harshest regions of Rannoch, places the quarians don't dare to go even if it was unoccupied. We barely got to the boarders of the deserts to the north when we found one inactive platform. We found a few others before a haboob came through."

"The geth complex is visible enough from space, halfway around the world almost." Garrus said. "However, what I have in mind is not a direct approach. As you might remember, the coastline on the western continent is lined with servers."

"Yeah, I remember." Kaidan said.

"If we can infiltrate one of them, we might be able to get a peek to see what is going on. To be honest, this whole thing is making me nervous, and that says something."

Kaidan stroked his chin in thought. "Perhaps this is something we should stop talking about until we're back on the _Normandy_."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Garrus said. "It's been a long time."

"It seems like it, don't it?" Vega said.

Kaidan turned to Daniels. "Report, Lieutenant."

Daniels had barely moved, minus running his omni-tool up and down the geth platform. "If I'm not seeing this with my own eyes, Captain, I might not have believed the admi—I mean, Tali. There's nothing salvageable at all. I can't even salvage a callsign."

AREM's hologram appeared beside Daniels. _"I have attempted to aid Master Daniels in his analysis of this platform. His analysis is correct. Nothing remains intact."_

"Who's this?" Tali said, seeing a holographic floating head.

"That's AREM," Kaidan said. "A project of the Lieutenant's before he came to the _Normandy_. I'm afraid details are a little…classified."

Garrus and Tali looked at each other, then back and Kaidan, finally nodding. Kaidan was relieved; they both understood the implications succinctly.

"I might be able to get more data if EDI takes a look at it. Her computing combined with AREM's and mine might be able to find something, but that would require taking this platform aboard the _Normandy_ , sir."

"I'm afraid that is quite out of the question, young lieutenant," came a new voice.

Kaidan had to sigh to himself; he knew that voice. Contrary to Tali's more perky and pleasant voice, this voice was icy, strict and devoid of scruples. Sliding his helmet back on, he turned to the new voice in the room. "Admiral Xen."

The other two soldiers had pulled on their own helmets as Admiral Xen strode into the laboratory. "Spectre Alenko," she greeted cordially. "It seems that Admiral Zorah is once again quite liberal with what she thinks she can do in my laboratory."

"Here we go again," Garrus sighed inside his helmet.

"Admiral Xen, I allowed Spectre Alenko and his colleagues to examine the geth platform. They have to know what we know if they are to help us at all."

"That is what _you're_ thinking, Tali'Zorah." Xen said. "What we actually voted on is whether we needed the Council's help in dealing with the presence of Arbiter."

"So they knew that the Reaper was here, and they even knew which one it was." Kaidan thought to himself. Aloud, he asked. "When I was briefed on the Citadel, the presence of the Reaper Arbiter wasn't even mentioned."

"That would be because that bleeding-heart oaf Zaal'Koris made it to be an escalating issue between us and the geth. Our intentions were to bring a Spectre to deal with the Reaper. The geth are our concern."

"And a fine job you are doing with that," Garrus said. "No offense, Tali."

"You were never concerned with the geth, Xen, unless it was an attempt to re-enslave them," charged Tali. "You still feel that way to this day!"

"Don't forget, 'Admiral', that it was my advancements that enabled us to get a foothold back on what is rightfully ours!"

" _You_ didn't deliver us our homeworld, you bosh'tet! You and Han'Garrel nearly handed us over to the Reapers with your carelessness!"

"Even I couldn't have anticipated the geth alliance with the Reapers, but I will not regret my actions to deliver our homeworld and our servants back to redeem the glory of our race."

"It doesn't matter what happened back then!" Kaidan snapped. "What matters is what is happening now, and what's happening now is the mission that I was here for."

"Quite," Xen said rather quickly. "However, your assistance in investigating the geth is not required, even with your own AI-technology."

Kaidan knew that Tali was fuming in her suit, and knew that the only way to keep her calm was to take on Xen himself. "The tools, more accurately personnel, that I use is what I have chosen to use to complete my mission as a Spectre. Your assessment on the matter is not required. What _is_ required is the data that has been gathered on the inactive geth platforms is we are going to get to the bottom of this."

"VI, code shīn'-ṭā-lām-kāf, authority alif." Xen said calmly.

Kaidan—and more significantly Daniels due to his proximity—jumped as a blue hardlight shield enveloped the geth platform, separating it from them.

Tali was incensed. "How dare you?! Holding that data hostage could endanger us all! You could be charged with treason!"

Xen didn't appear to be phased; Kaidan had a hunch she was used to this. "That would be true if I was keeping him from gathering _all_ data on the geth. He is more than free to locate any other platforms to the north if he deems this data that important, but I cannot allow this platform to leave the laboratory. I am in the middle of my own research into the problem, and I cannot be interrupted, least of all by you, Captain Alenko."

"Did she just tell us to go find our own?" Vega said rather incredulously.

Kaidan pursed his lips behind his helmet. "I'm sorry, Admiral Xen, but my mission is to mediate the problem with the geth, not the Reapers. The Reaper presence in this system was never brought to the Council. We are here under the urging of Ambassador Aziz, and Councilor Saif, and their request was to investigate the isolation of the geth and to see if it posed a threat to the quarian nation, and in the long run, galactic civilization. If we are to do this properly, I need to have full access to all the information I can get as soon as possible. I would prefer we do this together without me having to resort to using Spectre authority."

Xen neither moved nor spoke for the briefest of seconds. "It seems that my work is of no consequence when it comes to galactic matters."

"Not at all," Kaidan said, relaxing a little. "I respect your need to do your research as much as the next guy. In the very least, forward what you have gathered to the Normandy, so my lieutenant can see what he can find from it. No need for this turf war."

Once again, Xen didn't move right away. Finally, she said. "All you had to do was ask. Fine; I'll forward what I found to your ship, but in exchange, I would like any new findings you gather sent to me as soon as you find them. My reasons are my own."

"Fair enough," Kaidan said.

"Good. Now, if you're done, I have work to do in here. Please leave, all of you."

"We'd better go," Tali said. Kaidan heard a slight quiver in her voice as if she was just barely holding herself back from blowing off Xen's head with a weapon of choice.

"Agreed. Vega, Daniels, we're going back to the _Normandy_. Daniels, get with EDI and go over the data from Admiral Xen. I want a report in one hour."

"Aye-aye," Daniels said.

"Tali, Garrus, are you with us?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Tali said.

"We'll be there, Kaidan," Garrus said. "You can count on it."

"Thanks, you two."

"I hope you still have that bar. I have some turian brandy that needs chilling."

"It better not try to take over the room I'm saving for the tequila, Scars," Vega said.

"I was hoping Cortez would at least by this point switched you to something…more refined." Garrus sobered up a bit. "Anyway, we'll see you on the _Normandy_. I'm sure something in there needs my calibration expertise at this point."

"Here we go again," Vega said.

Kaidan smiled behind his helmet. "I'll see you too soon then."

Garrus and Tali left, while Daniels, Vega and Kaidan were making their way back to the shuttle. "Just like old times, huh, L2?" Vega said.

"Actually, Vega," Kaidan said. "I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be."


End file.
